Bhubaneswar, Dec. 7: The elder brother of a 23-year-old Manipuri youth, whose body was found hanging on the premises of an OAS official's residence at Unit-VI on December 2, today alleged that criminals had killed his sibling.
Though police had suspected L. Poumai to have committed suicide, his brother, who does not want to be named, has a different story to tell.
He said that he had received a distress call from Poumai, who was on his way to Bangalore by the Dibrugarh-Bangalore Express on November 29. "He called me from a place near Vishakhapatnam at 4.55pm on November 29, saying that five persons were threatening to kill him on the train. But all of a sudden, his call got interrupted by some strangers, and since then, his mobile remains switched off," said his brother, who stays in Bangalore.
Following the incident, he had lodged a missing report in Bangalore. Poumai's brother, a native of Khabung Karong village in Senapati district of Manipur, reached Bhubaneswar today and alleged that his sibling had been killed. Capital police took him to the spot.
The police said the Railway Protection Force had found Poumai lying on the tracks near Balugaon railway station on November 30. He had suffered superficial injuries and was taken to Capital Hospital. "Poumai was discharged from the hospital the same day," said a police official.
Later, Poumai's body was found in the compound of the officer's residence. His wife spotted it when she was taking a walk with her husband in the morning on December 2.
"It is hard to believe that my brother was found hanging some hours after he had been admitted to a hospital with injuries. We suspect foul play and demand the police to conduct a thorough probe into the incident," said the brother of the deceased.
On the other hand, the police continue to maintain that it was a suicide case. "The autopsy report revealed that hanging had caused his death. But, we would ascertain the circumstances, which had led to his rescue near Balugaon railway station," said deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi.
