The Government Railway Police at Vashi were in for a huge shock when they traced the home of a 70-year-old beggar who had died in a train accident on Friday night. Not only did they stumble upon four gunny sacks full of coins amounting to Rs 1.75 lakh, they also found a bank passbook that showed savings of Rs 8.77 lakh. It took four cops more than 10 hours to count the coins over Saturday and Sunday.

On Friday night, the Vashi GRP received information that a person hit by a local between Govandi and Mankhurd was rushed to Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar. On reaching the hospital, the cops were informed that the doctors declared the beggar dead on arrival. The cops later identified him as Birdichand Azad, a resident of Govandi.

Next morning, a team of cops went to Govandi in search of his house and found it locked. "When we asked the neighbours, they told us that Azad lived alone and begged at Govandi and Mankhurd. Azad used to eat whatever he got from people or request his neighbours to share food with him," told a GRP official.

The cops opened his house and found dirty clothes and four gunny sacks, said a GRP official. To their surprise, the sacks were full of coins. "There were coins of denominations between R1 and R10. We also found a passbook of a bank showing deposit of R8.77 lakh," said Nandkishor Saste, senior inspector of Vashi GRP. "The coins were counted by four cops, who started around 8 pm on Saturday and were done only by Sunday morning, 10 hours later," Saste added.

The Vashi GRP also recovered some documents from the hut, including Aadhaar card, according to which Azad hailed from Rajasthan where his son lives. "Azad has mentioned his son as the nominee for his fixed deposits. We have sealed the money and documents found in the hut," said the cops. The Vashi GRP have informed the Rajasthan police about the incident and sought their help to contact Azad's son, who will be given the money and the documents found in the hut.

Rs 8.77 lakh

Amount in savings he left behind

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