Ameer Khan: Man Missing Since 2015 Identified Through Old Phone Found Near His Skeleton

• In a haunting tale of urban isolation, Hyderabad police have solved a nine-year-old mystery after children stumbled upon skeletal remains in an abandoned home
• The breakthrough came from a long-dead mobile phone beside the skeleton, showing 84 missed calls from 2015
• The remains were identified as 55-year-old Ameer Khan, who died unnoticed in his own locked house

India: Hyderabad police identified the skeletal remains of a man who had vanished without a trace nearly a decade ago, all thanks to an old mobile phone lying near the scene.

The partially buried skeleton was discovered inside an abandoned house in the Nampally market area, where 55-year-old Ameer Khan once lived alone.

How Ameer Khan's remains were discovered

Khan, who disappeared in May 2015, was finally identified after police found 84 missed calls on his long-dead mobile phone.

The Times of India reports that the phone was left untouched since the day he locked himself in and never came out.

Read also

Nairobi: Man in fake police uniform arrested over KSh 999,000 robbery, remanded as probe widens

The discovery came to light after a group of local boys, playing cricket nearby, jumped the compound wall to retrieve a ball and were met with a strong stench from the deserted property.

"One of them entered the house and was overwhelmed by the smell coming from the kitchen. He saw the skeletal remains, took a video, and circulated it on WhatsApp," said Inspector Purushotham Rao.

How many missed calls did Ameer Khan's phone have?

Police arrived at the scene around 12.30 pm and found that the lower half of the skeleton was partially buried in mud, clad in a pair of shorts.

A search of the premises led to a mobile phone lying near the remains. Though it was dead, police managed to charge it at a local shop, uncovering dozens of missed calls from May 2015.

“The 84 missed calls on the phone helped us identify the deceased as Ameer Khan," said ACP B Kishan Kumar of Asif Nagar. "His younger brother, Shadab, who had inherited the property but never entered the house, confirmed it was likely him.”

Read also

David Mutaaga: Slain Swiss-based couple's memorial held without coffins as family pays tribute

According to NDTV, Khan was the third of 10 children of Muneer Khan, who died in 2013.

Police suspect Ameer Khan died of natural causes

Unmarried and unemployed, Ameer continued to live alone in the ancestral house, even as the rest of the family kept their distance.

Police revealed that despite the disappearance, no missing person report was ever filed. The home remained locked, both inside and outside, for years.

"It appears there was minimal contact with other family members," the ACP noted. “Shadab continued collecting rent from shops in the same building but never once tried to open the house.”

A post-mortem is scheduled to determine the exact cause of death, News 18 adds.

While foul play has not been ruled out entirely, investigators currently suspect the death was due to natural causes or untreated illness.

Man's skeletal remains buried after 2 years

Read also

UK: Suspected body of missing teen who witnessed mother’s killing found

In another case that left the community shocked, a woman kept her husband's skeletal remains under their bed for two years.

The woman told police that she believed the skeleton would resurrect and grant her prophetic powers.

With the full knowledge of her daughters, Sylvia Mutoba Kalaba conducted secret rituals on the body as they awaited its resurrection.

Proofreading by Asher Omondi, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.

Source: TUKO.co.ke