Constable's body found in police training school's water tank

A 24-year-old Delhi police constable, posted with the 7th battalion at Police Training School (PTS) at south Delhi's Malviya Nagar, was found dead inside the water tank on the first floor of his barrack on Thursday morning.

A 24-year-old Delhi Police constable, posted with the 7th battalion at Police Training School (PTS) at south Delhi's Malviya Nagar, was found dead inside the water tank on the first floor of his barrack on Thursday morning.

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While police said they are investigating the matter from all possible angles, family members of the constable - Muneesh Hooda - claimed he was murdered.

Hooda, who had joined Delhi Police in 2010, was last seen at around 1am at night by his colleagues.

"They all live in barrack and his colleagues had seen him around 1am. At 9am in the morning, someone noticed the body lying in the water tank. The tank was filled with water," Naveen, Hooda's cousin said.

Hooda, a native of Mungan village in Haryana, was lying with his head facing bottom of the tank.

According to his father, Krishan Kumar - also a constable with the Delhi Police - Hooda's body had marks of strangulation and other injuries.

"I had spoken to him around 9:30pm on Wednesday and he was fine. There was no sign of depression or any tension," Kumar said.

Police said they have seized Hooda's mobile phone and are questioning other members of the PTS.

"This could be anything…accident, suicide or murder. Personnel of that barrack used to draw water from the tank with a bucket. There is a possibility that he might have gone to take out water and fell accidentally in the tank," a senior police officer said.

The family members, however, raised question on police theory, asking how can a six-feet tall man (approx 1.82 metre) could drown in a 1000 litre tank, which is approximately 1.22 metre deep.

"Even if he wanted to commit suicide, he could not have done that by jumping inside a 1000-litre water tank. He has been murdered and the police should investigate the matter properly," Jai Dev, victim's uncle who is also with Delhi Police said.

Hooda was earlier undergoing training at Wazirabad training college and had shifted to Malviya Nagar PTS only three months ago.

"He had a few issues with his seniors, who according to Hooda, had been denying him medical leave. He was not keeping well from the past few days and I had asked him to take medical leave. But he never showed any sign of depression," victim's father said.

The body has been sent for post mortem examination and no case has been registered so far.