Declared ‘dead’ due to Covid, MP man found alive after 2 years in Ahmedabad

MHOW: A 40-year-old man from Madhya Pradesh, who was declared ‘dead’ during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, has returned alive from Gujarat.

Kamlesh Patidar from Kadodkalan village of Badnawar tehsil, 80km from Indore, was believed to have died in Gujarat in the peak of the second wave in February 2021 — one of the faceless PPE-covered bodies cremated en masse. Imagine the shock and joy of Kamlesh’s family and friends when he walked into his maternal uncle’s house in MP’s Badveli village near Sardarpur, around 35km from Kadokalan on Saturday.

Kamlesh’s relative Mahesh Patidar said Kamlesh was in Badveli when he tested Covid-positive. “Since there were no hospital beds available nearby, he was taken to Baroda. In Baroda, Kamlesh was declared dead. His family members were shown a body covered in a plastic sheet and the body was cremated.

According to Kamlesh’s uncle Rameshwar, Kamlesh has said that he was held hostage by a gang all this while. “He has told me that after recovering from Covid, he was held confined by half a dozen persons in Ahmedabad. They injected him with drugs and kept him unconscious all the time. On Friday, while being taken somewhere in a car, the gang stopped at a roadside hotel for snacks. Unknown to them, Kamlesh was alert. He saw an Ahmedabad-Indore passenger bus and slipped into it. He arrived in Sardarpur late at night and then reached Badveli village with the help of some people. He is still in a semi-conscious state,” said Rameshwar.

ASP Patidar said police will investigate his complaint that he was held hostage by a gang.