The Mumbai Police on Monday caught a 54-year-old man, who had been evading arrest for 15 years, in a washing machine. Manoj Tiwari, accused in two cheating cases, was found hiding under a pile of laundry in his house in Juhu, The Hindu reported on Wednesday.

Teams from the Azad Maidan and Juhu police stations tried to convince his wife, who is a lawyer, to let them search their house. They had nearly given up their search in the three-bedroom apartment, when an officer happened to pull out clothes from the washing machine and found the crook.

Tiwari is accused of duping three people of Rs 1 lakh in 2002. He had assured them of admission in a B.Ed course in a college in Maharashtra’s Beed district. Tiwari was declared an absconder in the case. He is also accused in a cheating case worth Rs 1 crore in Pune, Senior Police Inspector Vasant Wakhare told the Hindustan Times.

The police have lodged a complaint against Tiwari’s wife, as well, for obstructing a government official from carrying out his duty.