Rabiram Basumatary. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, May 9: The driver of slain Food Corporation of India (FCI) executive director, P.C. Ram, was found dead at the organisation’s regional office on G.S. Road here today.

The body of Rabiram Basumatary, 35, was found inside the ladies’ toilet on the sixth floor of the eight-storeyed FCI building at 10.30am. He was subsequently shifted to a nursing home where he was declared brought dead. However, police were informed about the incident only at 4pm.

Though it was a holiday, a few employees had come to the office to “reduce workload”. The office is spread over three floors of the building.

S.K. Saikia, officer-in-charge of Paltanbazar police station, said nothing could be surmised until a post-mortem was conducted on the body.

Basumatary lived at Kahilipara. He was abducted along with Ram in April 2007 but released soon after. Ram was subsequently killed in July in a botched rescue operation at Borka Panitema village in Kamrup district. Basumatary was the sole witness in the case.

Praveen Kumar Gautam, son of P.C. Ram, said he was “shocked” to hear about Basumatary’s death. “I have been saying from the very beginning that my father was a victim of a big conspiracy. Basumatary’s death is also part of that same conspiracy. He was a key witness to the abduction and now he, too, is gone,” Praveen said when contacted.

H. Medhi, the chowkidar at the FCI office, said he had spotted the body and informed the few employees who were present in the office at that time.

“I was afraid when I saw him lying unconscious inside the bathroom frothing from the mouth,” Medhi said.

Sources among Basumatary’s acquaintances claimed that he had appeared to be under tremendous strain for some time. They said he had confided that the CBI often used to take him away at night for interrogation in connection with the abduction case.

The sources suspect Basumatary might have been poisoned.