A day after a car ferrying four members of a family was fished out of a canal in Ambala, the victims’ postmortem report attributed the deaths to drowning on Tuesday. However, the viscera report, which will determine if they were poisoned, is awaited to rule out foul play.
Divers and other teams had fished out a Maruti Suzuki 800 and its drowned occupants from the Narwana branch of the Bhakra Canal on December 5. The victims were identified as Kulbir Singh, 40; Kamaljit, 38; Jashanpreet, 16; and Khushpreet, 11.
Naggal police station house officer Anant Ram said, “Inquest proceedings have been initiated under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and autopsies were carried out in the presence of their relatives at the civil hospital. Their viscera samples have been sent for further investigation.”
Police officials said that prima facie the cause of death seemed to be drowning. However, the viscera report will reveal whether they had consumed a poisonous substance.
The family of four had gone missing on Sunday, after which Sucha Singh, the father of the 40-year-old dairy farmer who was at the wheel of the ill-fated car, had registered a missing persons’ report at the Lalru police station.
Sucha Singh said that the family of four had left home to pay obeisance at the gurdwara and visit their relatives on Sunday, but did not return home. “When their phones remained unreachable till the evening, I called the relatives they were supposed to be visiting, who told me that they never showed up,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Sucha Singh said that the family of four had left home to pay obeisance at the gurdwara and visit their relatives on Sunday, but did not return home. “When their phones remained unreachable till the evening, I called the relatives they were supposed to be visiting, who told me that they never showed up,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}On the possibility of foul play, inspector Anant Ram said, “The family has not raised any suspicions, and termed it an accident. The victim’s father said his son, who was actively involved in politics, had been upset of late and was also on medication for the same.”