A Malaysian fugitive who jumped bail 19 years ago to escape corruption charges has been found living a "good life" in India, a report said yesterday.

New Straits Times said Balbir Kaur, a former magistrate, was living in Chandigarh, the administrative capital of Punjab and Haryana states, under the name of Daljit Kaur.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan reportedly said Malaysia would liase with the police in India before serving an arrest warrant.

"Interpol is involved and we leave it to them," the paper quoted Musa as saying.

Property tussle

Balbir was arrested in 1987 by Malaysia's Anti-Corruption Agency for allegedly accepting RM25,000 in exchange for acquiting three Indonesians facing charges under the Customs Act, the report said.

In tracing her whereabouts, the report also cited legal documents from Malaysia and India relating to a family tussle over her late father's property in the northern Malaysian state of Penang.

Balbir, who is said to be married to an Indian national and has three children, had filed a power of attorney document earlier this year to thwart an attempt by a family member to certify her dead.

Lawyer Rabinder Singh, acting for Balbir's brother, was reported as saying he had informed the police, the Attorney General's Chambers and the local law society of the matter.

"How could a power of attorney secured in another country, and that too of a fugitive, be verified and later lodged with the High Court in Penang?" Rabinder was quoted as saying.