SEHORE (MP), Aug 10: More than a century after a Madhya Pradesh businessman reportedly lent Rs 35,000 to the British government to support its expenses during World War I, his descendants have claimed that UK authorities have agreed to examine their request for repayment.

Speaking to reporters in Sehore on Monday, brothers Vinay and Vivek Ruthia, descendants of former Nagar Seth (prominent businessman and landholder) Seth Jumma Lal Ruthia, said their legal counsel sent a notice to the UK Debt Management Office in February seeking repayment of the historic loan.

The brothers said the claim is based on documents, records and correspondence preserved by their grandfather, who died in 1937.

According to Vinay and Vivek, the UK authorities have now responded to the notice and agreed to examine their request, potentially reopening a decades-old financial claim dating back to the First World War.