LUCKNOW A 25-year-old aspirant died during a physical race as part of the home guards recruitment process at the 35th Battalion PAC ground in Lucknow on September 15, with the case taking a serious turn after his post-mortem report revealed that he died of asphyxia and that a 250 ml plastic water bottle was found lodged in his throat.
The deceased, Yogendra Singh, was a resident of Madhia Rahimpur village under Ramkot police station in Sitapur district. His family raised suspicion of foul play after the autopsy report also found 12 injury marks on his body. They also alleged that Yogendra was assaulted and that the plastic bottle was forcibly pushed into his mouth, causing him to suffocate.
The deceased’s brother Kamal Kishore subsequently approached the Mahanagar police and lodged a complaint against unknown persons for murder. The FIR was registered after the family questioned the circumstances surrounding Yogendra’s death.
Kamal alleged that officials had initially described Yogendra’s death as a routine incident during the recruitment exercise. However, the family became suspicious after receiving the post-mortem report on September 18, which cited asphyxia caused by the bottle lodged in his throat and recorded 12 injury marks on his body.
DCP (central) Vikrant Vir Singh said a five-member team had been constituted to investigate the case. He said the post-mortem report confirmed that the death was caused by the 250 ml water bottle lodged in the throat, following which a case was registered on the basis of the complaint.
{{/usCountry}}DCP (central) Vikrant Vir Singh said a five-member team had been constituted to investigate the case. He said the post-mortem report confirmed that the death was caused by the 250 ml water bottle lodged in the throat, following which a case was registered on the basis of the complaint.
{{/usCountry}}Kamal also sought examination of CCTV footage from the 35th Battalion PAC premises and questioning of candidates and staff members who were present at the recruitment ground at the time of the incident.
The police were examining post-mortem findings along with other aspects related to the incident, said the DCP. Investigators were also collecting CCTV footage from the PAC premises and information about candidates and staff present at the venue when Yogendra died.