HISAR: Rajesh could not believe his eyes when he saw the name of his brother Vikas appearing as caller on his cellphone. The family had just returned home after cremating the body of Vikas who, according to the police, had set himself on fire.

The civil lines police in Hisar had recovered the body of a youth, which was later identified as that of Vikas, a resident of Navdeep Colony in the town. Rajesh, accompanied by his mother Krishna had gone to identify the body and after seeing the half-burnt body and clothes, they thought it was of Vikas.

The family cremated the body at about 4 pm on Tuesday. While Rajesh was sitting with mourners at his house an hour after the cremation, his mobile suddenly started ringing with the name Sonu (nickname of Vikas) appearing on the screen. Nonplussed he answered the call.

The caller was Sonu, who, unaware about his 'death', pleaded with Rajesh to send him some money. Struggling to keep pace with the swift change in scenario,the atmosphere of grief immediately turned to that of delight.

The police were immediately informed about the fact, but now, it became a riddle for the cops to find out whose body had been cremated by Rajesh and his family. But the mystery was solved on Wednesday morning when the police received a complaint regarding some missing person. S atbir, a resident of Siswala, who lived in a rented accommodation in the local Model Town, had been missing since Tuesday morning. When the police showed photographs of the deceased to Satbir's kin, they immediately identified him.

Talking about the faux pas in identifying the body, Rajesh said, "Vikas and I had purchased identical shirts. The half-burnt shirt on the body appeared to be the same. Even the body features were similar in appearance."