Patna, Dec. 27: Death of 22-year-old Vikas Kumar in the room of a lodge on Monday has left police in a fix. Unable to determine the real cause of death, the cops are investigating the case from all possible angles, including murder and suicide.

Vikas was found hanging in the Nepali Lodge in the Langartoli area under Kadamkuan police station. He hailed from Giridih district of Jharkhand. He was preparing for competitive examinations and was enrolled at Mishra English Study Centre in Patna City.

While Vikas’s friends claimed that he was a lively boy with no reason to take his life, the police are confused as no suicide note was found in his room and the door was not locked from inside.

“Generally, if someone decides to commit suicide, he/she latches the door from inside. Vikas’s door was not locked,” said a police officer.

“Until 11pm on Sunday, the youth (Vikas) was okay. He was playing ludo with some of his friends. The sequence of events leading to his sudden death has triggered doubts and the post-mortem report is awaited,” a police officer posted at the Kadamkuan police station said.

Crime drop

The state capital has witnessed less number of crime this year, police said today while releasing the crime figures for 2011.

Patna senior superintendent of police Alok Kumar said a drop of 7.5 per cent has been recorded in the crime rate. While the number of murders stood at 304 in 2010, the same was 244 this year. Robberies in 2010 stood at 184, while 157 burglaries were recorded this year.