RUDRAPUR/DEHRADUN: A senior Airports Authority official was found dead under suspicious circumstances at his official accommodation at the airport on Monday. TOI is withholding his name.
The official was found hanging from a ceiling fan dressed in women’s clothes, including a maxi, undergarments, bindi, lipstick and bangles. His wife, a teacher, was in Pithoragarh at the time of the incident.
SSP (Udham Singh Nagar) Manjunath TC told TOI: “Relatives and colleagues forced open the official’s bedroom door to find him hanging.He was taken to a hospital where doctors declared him ‘dead on arrival’. There was no sign of forced entry in the room, which was locked from inside. There were no signs of physical assault either.”
A police officer, who is part of the investigation, said, “The official was in his two-bedroom accommodation with two relatives. All three had dinner together on Sunday and went out at night before returning to the apartment. Preliminary investigation suggests that the two were in one room while the official was in the other. They had planned to visit a nearby mango orchard around 8am on Monday. However, when AAI official didn’t wake up in the morning despite several calls by the two, they informed his colleagues living in the same neighbourhood. They then broke open the door of his room to find him hanging from a noose made from a dupatta tied to the ceiling fan… We’re probing why he was in women’s attire.”
The official was found hanging from a ceiling fan dressed in women’s clothes, including a maxi, undergarments, bindi, lipstick and bangles. His wife, a teacher, was in Pithoragarh at the time of the incident.
SSP (Udham Singh Nagar) Manjunath TC told TOI: “Relatives and colleagues forced open the official’s bedroom door to find him hanging.He was taken to a hospital where doctors declared him ‘dead on arrival’. There was no sign of forced entry in the room, which was locked from inside. There were no signs of physical assault either.”
A police officer, who is part of the investigation, said, “The official was in his two-bedroom accommodation with two relatives. All three had dinner together on Sunday and went out at night before returning to the apartment. Preliminary investigation suggests that the two were in one room while the official was in the other. They had planned to visit a nearby mango orchard around 8am on Monday. However, when AAI official didn’t wake up in the morning despite several calls by the two, they informed his colleagues living in the same neighbourhood. They then broke open the door of his room to find him hanging from a noose made from a dupatta tied to the ceiling fan… We’re probing why he was in women’s attire.”
SP (city) Manoj Katyal said police are questioning the two relatives and his colleagues.
He added: “We have also seized his mobile phone to examine his call details and other data to conduct a cyber forensic probe. His seniors and colleagues termed him an ‘outstanding professional who was never involved in any misconduct’. The reasons behind his death would be ascertained after we receive the postmortem report. We’re not ruling out anything…”