Overview
- Police in Khaknar, Madhya Pradesh, traced 26-year-old Shivani Kalmekar near Nashik and verified her identity on Thursday using thumb impressions and government ID in front of relatives and witnesses.
- Maharashtra police had recovered a headless, partially burned female body on April 26 in Jalgaon Jamod, Buldhana district, and matched it to Shivani via missing-person records before seeking arrests.
- Following the body match, Maharashtra authorities arrested Shivani’s father Bapurao and brother Ajay on murder charges and they spent about 22 days in Buldhana jail before Shivani was found alive.
- Officials have ordered a fresh probe to establish who the burned remains belong to and to examine investigative steps, and Jalgaon-Jamod police have called Shivani to record a formal statement.
- The case exposed procedural gaps that included reliance on the CCTNS missing-person database instead of immediate DNA testing and has raised calls for tighter inter-state verification and accountability.