Ajmer: Beggar dies with Rs 2 Lakh in pocket

London, Jun 14: Indians, irrespective of whatever strata of the society they might belong to, have an inherent sense of saving money for rough times. We all save, thinking that the deposits would serve us during adverse times and illness. Sometimes, we even take out a few coins to give alms to a poor beggar so that he can conjure up on all his earnings over a period of time and get himself a square meal.

Surely, none of us, in our wildest of imaginations, would have ever thought that a beggar would save alms and accrue them to the tune of Rs 200,000. Astonishing, it may sound, but the truth is that it has really happened in the city of Ajmer, also referred to as the city of alms for its religious shrines, numerous beggars at those places and generous donors who are on the look-out to earn some 'punya'.

It so happened that a corpse was at Panigram Chowk near the Ajmer's historic dargah on Jun 12 and the police recovered the body after calls from local residents.

Lo and behold, a man who was in tattered clothes, appeared undernourished, was in possession of Rs 2 Lakh.

A constable who was ordered by the Dargah police station to fetch the body for an autopsy, was quoted by the Times of India as saying, "He was about 60 years of age and had torn clothes and a shabby bag with him. We searched his body to learn his identity and found Rs 1,500 in the inner pocket of his pants."

A police officer, is quoted in the report as saying, "There were a total of Rs 1.98 lakh in his pockets. We later came to know that he used to change coins into Rs 1,000 and 500 notes from shopkeepers."

A post-mortem has confirmed that the poor-fellow died due to the lack of treatment for numerous ailments, and later the body was cremated by the Dargah committee.

With many a false relatives turning out only to get the huge money, the police now, according to rules will wait for 90 days for a relative to claim the money with enough evidence. Or else, if nobody turns up, the money will be submitted to a city magistrate.

OneIndia News