Gurugram, Sept. 6 -- A 47-year-old man - believed to have been the victim of a shocking murder where he was beheaded - walked back into his Gurugram house the very next day after his family had cremated a body believed to be his, leaving his wife, three sons, neighbours and police shocked. The man was Poojan Prasad, 47, a petty labour contractor who lived with his wife and three sons in Mohammadpur Jharsa, Sector-36, police said. For two days, his family had been convinced he was dead - his body recovered, apparently identified, and then cremated. His sudden reappearance has not only bewildered his loved ones but also left investigators grappling with an unsettling question: if Poojan is alive, then who was the man they cremated? The confusion began on August 28 when police recovered a body with severed head near an abandoned warehouse 1.5km from Poojan's home. On September 1, after Poojan failed to return for several days, his son Sandeep Kumar, 22, filed a missing complaint. Police told him about the body they had found. At the government mortuary, Sandeep noted what he said were "similarities". "Incidentally, the body also had on a shirt and trousers of a similar appearance. What made me certain was that there was an injury mark on the right leg of the dead man which was similar to the one on my father's leg," Sandeep told HT. So, he told police that it was his father, and informed his family as well. The news devastated the family. Poojan's wife, Laxminiya, fainted when she heard the news. Neighbours gathered as rituals began. The body was cremated at Ram Bagh cremation ground on Tuesday, after an autopsy confirmed it had been a grisly murder - the head severed, the remains mutilated by stray animals. His sons performed the last rites, even leaving for Delhi on Wednesday to immerse the ashes in the Yamuna. But midway through their journey, they received a call. Their maternal uncle, Rahul Prasad, had spotted Poojan alive at a labour chowk in Khandsa. At first, Rahul thought he was hallucinating. He got down from his autorickshaw and realised it was indeed his brother-in-law. Grabbing him by the wrist, Rahul dragged him into the auto and rushed him home. When Sandeep and his elder brother Aman returned, they found their father sitting calmly on the bed. They broke down in tears. Laxminiya froze when she saw her husband at the door. "I thought I was hallucinating. I fainted. When I woke up and realised he was alive, I cried all over again," she said. Neighbours too were stunned. "It took me several minutes to understand what had happened as I had seen the body being cremated," said Avanish Sharma, who lives next door. For Poojan's family, the past week has been a dizzying cycle of shock, mourning, and happiness. His wife Laxminiya said she had long grown used to her husband's drinking and absences, but this ordeal broke her. "Even though he troubled me, he was my suhaag. I thought I had lost him forever. Seeing him alive is like getting a second life myself," she said. Police officials, equally shocked, rushed to the family's home. Poojan told them he had been wandering, sleeping at chowks and construction sites for several days, too drunk and indifferent to return home. His account checked out. This forced investigators back to square one - a man was murdered and beheaded. DNA samples had already been preserved during the autopsy, and police say they will now match them to trace the victim's identity. "It doesn't take time to crack a murder case once the deceased's identity is ascertained. But when identification is delayed, investigations can drag," said Sandeep Turan, Gurugram police public relations officer. "Investigation is going and the case will surely be cracked," added Turan. Gurugram police have since registered a murder case against unknown persons at Sector-37 police station....