Man who stole 2 buffaloes and calf in 1965 arrested after 58 years: Report

Police officials said that the buffaloes and the calf were traced from Kurki village in Maharashtra and returned to the owner. (Representational Image).

A 78-year-old man in Bidar district of north Karnataka was arrested on Tuesday, 58 years after he had stolen two buffaloes and a calf.

According to a Times of India report, Ganapati Vitthal Wagore from Udagir, Maharashtra had stolen the animals in Bidar in 1965, when he was 20 years old.

Local police officials said that the case was the longest pending one, among those that were being looked into recently. "He (Vitthal) was arrested and produced before the court earlier, he went absconding when released on bail...but an open warrant was in force," a local police officer said.

A co-accused in the case, identified as Krishna Chandar, died in 2006. The police said the animals were traced from Kurki village in Maharashtra and returned to the owner, identified as Muralidhar Manikarao Kulkarni, who died a few years ago.

Officials also said that considering his age, Vitthal was likely to be given bail soon.

This is not the first case in recent times when the prime accused in a case has been arrested several years after the person had committed the crime.

A Bengaluru man was arrested in KR Puram area, located in the eastern part of the city, for stealing a bicycle in 1985. As per lawyers, approximately 200 warrants could have been issued in the man's name in the last 38 years.

A key factor that did not help the police arrest the man sooner was that he had relocated from Kolar Gold Fields to Bengaluru a few years ago.