It sounds as if the Mumbai Police department, plagued by an acute shortage of staff, has been trying to fill in spots by raising the dead. A Mumbai Crime Branch officer who died in an accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in 2011 was recently promoted and shifted to the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), as per the list announcing transfers released by the department last week.

The list declares that deceased police inspector Anand Gawde has been promoted to assistant commissioner of police. The communication, however, erroneously states his designation as senior police inspector. A source from the force said, “How is it possible that a dead man has been promoted and transferred? It’s a big mistake on the part of the administration. The department is supposed to keep records of all the officers dead or alive. Even in 2001, one of my fellow officers, who had died in 1997, was promoted and transferred.”