Bihar man believed to be murdered 4 years ago found alive in Delhi

A nonspeaking man believed to have been murdered nearly four years ago in Lalpur in Bihar’s Samastipur was found alive in Delhi, raising questions over the police investigation that led to the arrest and imprisonment of four people for murder without the recovery or identification of the body.

The man, Ravishankar Kumar, in his late 20s, was found working at a fruit shop in Delhi, police said.

In 2022, Madan Yadav lodged a case alleging that his nonspeaking son was kidnapped and murdered and that his body had been concealed. Police registered the case and named four people as accused.

In his complaint, Yadav said Kumar had been working with Mukesh Pandit, Sahdev Pandit and Dinesh Pandit. His father alleged that the three murdered him and disposed of his body. Chhotu Mahto, who was associated with the accused, was also named in the case.

Police arrested four accused and sent them to jail. Mahto said he was in jail for three months and 18 days and is currently out on bail.

On October 2, Akash Kumar, who is also from Lalpur and works in Noida, spotted Ravishankar Kumar at the fruit shop. He informed people in Lalpur, following which a group from the village visited Delhi, brought him back to Samastipur, and handed him over to the police on Monday.

Deputy police superintendent Sanjay Sinha said a fresh investigation will be conducted. He said that they will record Ravishankar Kumar’s statement through a support service interpreter. “As he is mute, we have sought a court’s permission to engage a support service interpreter for his statement. Once his statement is recorded, further action will be taken based on the findings,” he said.