HYDERABAD: A young boy searching for a lost cricket ball stumbled upon a chilling discovery that has solved a 10-year-old mystery. Inside a dilapidated, locked house in Hyderabad’s Nampally area, a human skeleton was found resting in the kitchen.
The remains have been identified as Amir Khan, a middle-aged man who is believed to have passed away in 2015 without anyone noticing.
A Discovery by Chance
On Monday, while playing cricket near the Nampally market area, a boy followed a stray ball into a crumbling, locked building. Upon entering, he was horrified to find skeletal remains and immediately alerted his family and neighbors. The Habibnagar police arrived shortly after, breaking open the door to find the skeleton lying on the kitchen floor.
The Digital Time Capsule: A Nokia Phone
The breakthrough in identifying the remains came from an unlikely source: an old Nokia mobile phone lying next to the body. Despite being switched off for years, the police managed to power it up, revealing a digital trail that acted as a window into the past. The phone log showed 84 missed calls dating back to 2015. No activity was recorded on the device after that period, leading police to believe he died that year. Saved messages on the SIM card provided the crucial evidence needed to confirm the identity of the deceased.
A Lonely End
Amir Khan, who was about 50 years old at the time of his death, was one of ten children of a man named Munir Khan. While his siblings had moved away and lost contact years ago, Amir lived a solitary life as a bachelor in the ancestral home. Investigators found a stash of old currency notes (demonetized in 2016) tucked under his pillow, further confirming he had passed away before the 2016 currency ban took effect. Because he lived alone and had no dependents, no missing person's report was ever filed. His neighbors assumed the house was simply abandoned.
Investigation Underway
Senior officials suspect that Amir Khan may have been suffering from mental health issues, which contributed to his isolation. The skeletal remains have been sent for a medical examination to determine the exact cause of death.
For now, the Habibnagar police have registered a case of unnatural death and are continuing their investigation into this decade-long silent tragedy.