It was 1990, a time when Rs 200 went a long way. For struggling 20-year-old student Venkatesh Mahadeva Vaidya, that sum represented hope — borrowed money paid to a stranger promising a government job.The man, however, vanished overnight, and a case filed by Vaidya lay unsolved for 35 years. Until last week, when a clever courier ruse finally led to the capture of the accused, B Keshavamurthy Rao, now aged 72.For the Sirsi rural police in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district, this marked the closure of the station’s oldest pending case.It began, though, with an element of chance.Police inspector Manjunath Gowda, who had taken charge at the police station just two months ago, happened to be going through cold cases when one caught his eye.“This was the oldest pending case of the station. I felt it was interesting as the case was filed over `200,” he told The Indian Express.It also helped that Gowda had worked in a town Rao used to live in. “I shared some details with my network in Kundapura and found out that he had left the town more than two decades back,” Gowda said.The inspector managed to get in touch with Rao’s relatives and got his contact number. Police traced his location to Bengaluru, where he had become a Kannada activist and was living alone. Normally, here’s where the trail would have stopped. Police in Sirsi were not in a position to travel 400 km to Bengaluru over a `200 case.Story continues below this adThis is where a second element of chance came in.In the last week of June, police constable Maruti Gowda, who is also a kabbadi player, was headed to the state capital to attend the annual police sports meet. Inspector Gowda told him to check about Rao after the meet ended.Maruti came through, thanks to a little improvisation. “I called him under the guise of a courier office employee and confirmed the name. I asked him to come to the courier office to collect a parcel. Once he arrived, I picked him up and brought to Sirsi,” the constable told The Indian Express.For Vaidya, who had long moved on, this was a different kind of closure.Story continues below this adIt was in February 1990 that Vaidya, then a B Com student doing odd jobs to fund his education, met Rao, considered “influential” in Sirsi.Vaidya told The Indian Express: “My parents were labourers. BK Rao promised to get me a government job and demanded a bribe of `200. That was big money then. His offer seemed promising. So I took a loan from an elderly person and paid Rao.”With Rao promptly going missing, Venkatesh filed a police complaint. “I cried because I lost such a huge amount of money,” he said. “I then moved on in life.”Vaidya completed his B.Com and went on to work with the State Bank of India (SBI). He voluntarily retired as a chief manager of an SBI branch in Bengaluru. Every two or three years, he would get the occasional call from police seeking information about Rao.Story continues below this adCut to the first week of July 2025 and Vaidya received a call he had never anticipated.The Sirsi rural police had finally arrested Rao. “Forget arrest, I never thought Rao would be even seen again,” he said.Last week, Rao appeared before a court and apologised to Vaidya. “He is 72 years old now… `200 was a lot of money then, but not now. On humanitarian grounds, I forgave him,” said the retired banker.Considering Vaidya’s decision to withdraw the case, the court ordered its closure.Story continues below this adVaidya recalled: “Whenever an SP or Dy SP would take charge, I would get a call from Sirsi rural police station asking if there was any information about Rao. So, I am sure this case was bothering the police as well.”During the probe, police found that Rao was a Kannada activist in Bengaluru. “He has been part of several protests and was widely covered in some of the protests standing next to activist Vatal Nagaraj and other leaders. However, he suffered losses in his business and lived alone,” Inspector Gowda said.