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Congress activist death, Lucknow police launch probe, post-mortem report inconclusive
“The post-mortem report could not reveal the exact cause of death and viscera has been preserved for further probe,” said a senior police officer.
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The Lucknow police have launched a probe into the death of a Congress worker Prabhat Pandey on Wednesday. The death took place on a day on which the party staged a massive protest in the state capital.
Soon after an FIR was registered under murder charges at Hussainganj police station late Wednesday night, police officials reached the Congress office. A police team again visited the party office on Thursday for the investigation.
“The post-mortem report could not reveal the exact cause of death and viscera has been preserved for further probe,” said a senior police officer in the investigation team on condition of anonymity.
Deputy commissioner of police, Central, Raveena Tyagi, who reached the Congress office with her team, said, “The CCTV footage is being checked thoroughly. The statement of the caretaker and the protesters are taken. It is also being looked into as to who accompanied Pandey to the Congress office and who he was with. We are doing the probe with full transparency to work out the case.”
On Wednesday night, the mobile phone of the deceased was sent for forensic examination. “To further maintain the transparency, the post-mortem was done by a panel of doctors under videography,” the DCP said.
Police maintained that there were no injury marks found on Prabhat’s body and force was not used on the protesters.
The police have registered a murder case under Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) on the complaint of Prabhat’s uncle Manish Pandey. In the FIR, he alleged that he was informed that his nephew was lying unconscious for two hours. He also said sent his acquaintance to the party office and took him to civil hospital in a car but Prabhat was declared dead by the doctors at the hospital.
Prabhat Pandey had reportedly been the state secretary of Youth Congress. Currently, he was not holding any post and lived on rent in an apartment near Amity University, Lucknow.
He used to work in the real estate sector was preparing to take an exam for a government job after completing graduation. His father is an LIC agent, while there are two sisters in the family.
Meanwhile, a Congress worker, Dwarika, who had taken Prabhat to hospital, was summoned by police to get his statement recorded but some party leaders stopped police saying, they will allow it (recording of the statement) only after the state president Ajay Rai comes. The workers said the statement will be recorded in front of Rai. “If police want to record a statement of a workers, they should take that particular person inside the party office. The police cannot take anyone to the police station like this,” the workers said.
The Congress workers closed the gate of the party office.
BOX
Pathak takes jibe at Cong
LUCKNOW: Commenting on the Congress worker’s death, deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak on Thursday said, “Post-mortem was done by a set of doctors and as soon as the result comes, it will be shared. For now, viscera and heart have been preserved.”
“The Congress should first see their behaviour. I spoke with the deceased’s uncle on phone, who told me that his nephew was found lying on the floor of the Congress office and he had sent his acquaintance there who found him unconscious. When he was taken to hospital, he was declared brought dead,” Pathak added.
“It should be told by Congress as to how it brought him to the protest by tricking the youth and it should answer how the youth, who was currently unemployed, died in their office,” he said.
“The Congress only wants to save itself. How could it not even provide the youth first aid?” he further asked. HTC
