Punjab man found alive 15 days after family cremated body they thought was his

A Punjab family was left stunned after performing the last rites and memorial ceremony of their missing son, only to discover 15 days later that he was alive and lodged in Kapurthala Central Jail, Punjab.Ravi Kumar, a resident of Kadupur village in Punjab's Kapurthala, had gone missing from his home on August 5. His family searched for him but could not find any clue about his whereabouts.FAMILY MISTAKES DECOMPOSED BODY FOR MISSING SONOn August 11, Ravi's father, TT, and his brother, Amandeep, approached the police station to report him missing.At the police station, they were shown a photograph of a decomposed body that had been found near Kanjli Road. Since the face was unrecognisable, the family identified the body as Ravi's based on the clothes he was believed to have been wearing. The unidentified body was cremated on August 13. Two days later, on August 15, the family also observed the memorial ceremony, or Bhog, believing that Ravi had died.PHONE CALL REVEALS RAVI WAS ALIVEThe family's grief turned into disbelief on September 2, when they received a phone call from an official at Kapurthala Central Jail. They were informed that Ravi Kumar was alive and was lodged in the jail.According to the information provided, Jalandhar police had arrested Ravi around a month earlier on charges of vagrancy and subsequently sent him to jail.The family rushed to the jail the following day. There, they came face-to-face with Ravi, confirming that the man they had mourned and cremated was not their son.POLICE NOW PROBE IDENTITY OF CREMATED BODYThe discovery has left the family with a crucial unanswered question: who was the young man whose body they had cremated, believing it was Ravi?Police are now trying to establish the identity of the deceased person.DSP Sheetal Singh said the body recovered was in an advanced state of decomposition and that the family had identified it on the basis of the clothing. He said the family would be summoned for questioning.The DSP also denied any negligence on the part of the police in the matter.The case has left Ravi's family facing an extraordinary turn of events. After carrying out what they believed were their son's last rites and holding his memorial ceremony, they have now found him alive, while the identity of the person whose body was cremated remains to be established.- EndsWith inputs from SuketPublished On: Sep 5, 2026 18:51 IST