Karan Joseph death: We saw blood on parapet, says society secy

The constable (second from left), who conducted the preliminary spot check after Karan Joseph fell to death from Concorde Apartment, with Rishi Shah (in blue trousers)

Right after Karan Joseph mysteriously fell to his death from a 12th floor flat in Bandra West, a cop checked the apartment and allegedly found a drop of blood on the ledge outside the window. So claims a resident of the building, although the Bandra police have denied it. This has come to light even as the crime branch starts fresh investigations into all angles, including murder.

The blood was found on the ledge outside the window of the 12th floor flat Karan Joseph (inset) fell from

mid-day was among the first to report yesterday that Commissioner of Police Datta Padsalgikar had transferred the Karan Joseph case from the Bandra police to the crime branch. Karan's death will now be investigated from scratch and from every angle, not ruling out murder.

This is significant, especially in light of the revelations made by the residents of Concorde Apartment, where Karan shared a flat with music entrepreneur Rishi Shah.

'Looked like blood'
A society member narrated the sequence of events: "It was early in the morning when a loud sound prompted us to look out the window. We saw a young, bald boy lying in a pool of blood in the compound at the back of the building. The body was later identified as Karan's."

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A society member called up on the police control room, and a beat marshal reached the spot. Rishi Shah, his maid, the building secretary and watchman, and a few residents were standing in the compound, said the source from the building.

"One of the policemen inquired where Karan had fallen from, and the society members pointed to Rishi's house. The cop visited the house along with the building secretary. He went to check the window and found a red spot that looked like blood on the ledge outside the window," the society member recalled.

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Mujahid Zaki, the building secretary, corroborated this account, and said, "The police constable had spotted what looked like a drop of blood, and he even showed it to me."

Out on the ledge before
This is the same ledge from which Karan was seen dangling on September 5, just days before his death. Concerned neighbours had even paid a visit to the flat to check on him. After Karan's death, the Bandra police said they found nothing suspicious about this incident. They stated that as per Rishi's secretary Vidhi Shah, Karan was out on the ledge trying to retrieve R6,000 that had fallen there. They also mentioned that a leash had been tied into the loop of his jeans for safety.

However, on Monday, Karan's parents had issued an eight-page statement pointing out several issues in the police investigation, and they also voiced their suspicions about this incident.

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Recollecting the September 5 incident, a resident of the building said, "We went to Rishi's house and inquired about the matter. His domestic help was also present and, at the time, he had a dog on a leash. He told us that it was the same leash that was tied to Karan."

The resident added, "The neighbour had heard loud noises for about 15 minutes, so she looked out from her window and saw Karan dangling."

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The floor from which pianist Karan Joseph fell to his death

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