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The decomposed body of a Jamshedpur youth missing since Saturday night was found on Monday night with what looked like strangulation marks barely 200m from his home, but only the post-mortem report will reveal whether the death was due to accident or murder.
Curious about a freshly covered pit near a drain behind the Larsen & Toubro godown in Ramnagar, Kadma, bystanders dug up the soil to find the body. He was identified as Sadal Behera (25), a resident of Road No. 7, Ramnagar.
Sadal’s father-in-law, who had lodged a missing person’s report with Kadma police on Sunday, said he was last seen with two youths. One of them, Toppo Bahadur, was picked up for questioning on Tuesday.
Toppo’s testimony was surprising, said deputy superintendent of police (headquarters-II) Raj Kishore Prasad.
“During questioning, Topo alleged that youths including Sadal, stole scrap iron regularly from the company godown. On Saturday night, while getting out of the godown, Sadal got entangled with high-tension wires overhead and died. Nervous, the others dug a pit and buried his body. But the post-mortem will reveal the facts,” said the DSP.
SSP Akhilesh Kumar Jha said autopsy results would prove how Sadal met his end.
“The body bore no injury marks. If it is murder, we don’t know why. A lot hinges on autopsy results,” he said.
Sadal father-in-law, however, said it was murder and accused Toppo and his friend, who is yet to be identified.
The recovery of the body angered people in the slums. Hundreds pelted stones at the police, led by DSP Prasad, when they came for the body at 9pm. They alleged the police did nothing to trace Sadal’s whereabouts. Teams from Kadma, Sakchi and Bistupur came up to pacify the mob.
The police could take Sadal’s body only at 1am on Tuesday to send it to MGM Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem.
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