Mahad tragedy: Rs 3 lakh cash found in trousers of decomposed body

In what could be a bittersweet turn of events, when police found Jayesh Bane's body - a casualty of the Mahad bridge collapse tragedy - five days later on Sunday, Rs 3 lakh cash was found in his trousers. The Raigad police then coordinated with the family to return the money to its rightful owners.

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The Borivli resident's body was found on Sunday near the Ohale village, which is more than 15 kms from the spot of the accident.

Fifteen people who were washed away in the Savitri on August 2 are still missing

Police say
"The family told us that he was wearing boxers so when we found the body, though it was in a decomposed state, we noticed the boxers. The family also confirmed it. During the body search, we found the soggy cash in three bundles of R1,000 each, which we handed over to the family along with other identification details like his PAN card," said MH Patil, senior police inspector, Mahad rural police station.

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Bane, who was travelling in the Rajapur-Borivli bus that drowned in the tragedy, was the 26th person to be found. Fifteen others are still missing.

"The cash was found in his pocket, so we handed it over to his brother Ritesh, who had come to identify and claim Bane's body," said Sanjay Patil, additional superintendent of police, Raigad District.

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'Brother more important'
Ritesh Bane said that the police had cooperated with them throughout the tragedy. "We thank God and the entire team that we at least found my brother's body. Jayesh had some land in the village, and for the last few days, he was in the process to selling it to some private firm. We think that he was returning after finalising the deal and so had the cash on him. We got the cash, but sadly, we lost our brother," said Ritesh.

- Inputs by Pallavi Smart