A 24-year-old MBBS student of a government medical college in Pratapgarh was found dead in the hostel courtyard under mysterious circumstances on Sunday morning, police said. His spectacles and two mobile phones were recovered from the roof of the seven-storey hostel building, but the circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear, they added.
The body was kept in the mortuary freezer pending completion of legal formalities. The incident has also raised questions about security arrangements at the medical college. I reached the spot along with another doctor, but he had no pulse by then.
“A security guard informed me about the incident around 8.30 am.
However, the post-mortem examination could not be conducted as other relatives from his village and his father, who lives in Kolkata, were yet to arrive, police said. Sources said the wiring of CCTV cameras in the hostel had been damaged, while a camera near the spot where the student was found dead had not captured footage that could assist the investigation. The incident has left all of us deeply shocked,” the college principal said.
His sister and brother-in-law reached the college from Varanasi on Sunday afternoon.
The student’s roommate told investigators that he had been troubled by family-related issues and had spent considerable time talking on the phone on the hostel terrace late Saturday night. The roommate said he waited for him until around midnight before going to sleep. Some students, however, said the student had appeared optimistic after Saturday’s examination and had expressed confidence about his performance.
Police personnel from City Kotwali, including ASP (East) Alok Kumar Bhati, reached the hostel and launched an investigation. A forensic team collected evidence from the courtyard, rooftop and the student’s room. Police also recovered his spectacles and two mobile phones from the rooftop. “The exact cause of death will be clear only after the post-mortem report.
The forensic team’s findings will also form part of the investigation,” Bhati said, adding that it was too early to determine whether the death was accidental or a suicide.
