Thane police in Maharashtra have cracked a 27-year-old case of the killing of a sub-inspector, only to find that the accused died seven years ago, an official said on Thursday.

On July 23, 1992, sub-inspector Mahendra Singh Patil, then attached to Mahatma Fule Chowk police station in Kalyan town, was stabbed to death by the accused, Iqbal alias Nanhe Khan, during a confrontation, crime branch's senior inspector Nitin Thakre said.