Search begins for relatives as Jimmy enters last days after 51 yrs in asylum

Last month, after a report in The Indian Express, Joint Commissioner of Police, Law and Order, K L Prasad issued a look-out notice, which states that the “Mumbai Police needs the information of relatives of the following mentioned detainee person”—Jimmy…

Jimmy was held on January 9, 1956, in south Mumbai on the orders of the then Bombay police commissioner because the police found him wandering on the road, his speech incoherent. He ended up in the asylum, where, soon after, he was diagnosed as a schizophrenic.

The search for his relatives began after the authorities realised that Jimmy—who “is an excellent gardener”—may not have much time left, given his poor health and age. The mental asylum authorities contacted the police but couldn’t find the case papers—which could yield an address.

“The look-out notice for his relatives has been sent to all the police stations alongwith the police control room numbers hoping that some relative or family member might recognise Mohammad Jimmy Shaikh as he is now. We are making our best efforts to trace his relatives,” says Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime, Rakesh Maria.

So far, the police have not received any phone calls that can help them locate Jimmy’s relatives. “We know it will be difficult to trace his relatives through the police notice or control room. We now plan to scour the election rolls of 1956 to trace his relatives as that is the only source left to find more about him and his family,” says Prasad, who has instructed Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations, D P Tayade to begin the search.

Until the search yields results, Jimmy will continue to tend the garden and spend time with his ‘friends’—the plants.