Mumbai: Experts yet to rule out foul play

JJ hospital in Mumbai. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

On Thursday, an autopsy was performed on Anuj Thapan at the state-run JJ postmortem centre. The autopsy surgeons did not find any injury marks on the body and ruled out any form of physical assault or trauma. "Evidence of ligature mark at the neck with signs of asphyxia" was given as the preliminary reason for death. The forensic surgeons have preserved the viscera for chemical analysis to rule out any poisoning and the organs are preserved for histopathology tests to rule out ailments.

The forensic surgeons from the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology were waiting for a magistrate's inquest, as required by law for custodial deaths. The report was received on Thursday afternoon. A team of forensic surgeons, including a lecturer, an associate professor, and two residents, conducted the autopsy, which lasted over two hours. In cases of custodial deaths, the magistrate leads the inquiry, while the State Criminal Investigation Department (Pune) investigates to determine if there was any mistreatment or wrongdoing.

A team of forensic surgeons, including a lecturer, associate professor, and two residents, conducted the autopsy. Representation Pic

Nayab Tahsildar Arun Ghadi, with magisterial authority, conducted the inquest on Thursday at the request of Azad Maidan police, in whose jurisdiction the death occurred on Wednesday. The entire autopsy procedure of Anuj was recorded on video and even photographed, as per the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) guidelines.

"Once the findings of the chemical analysis and the histopathology tests findings are received the reports will then be marked to the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Grant Medical College, on the basis of which the final cause of death will be issued by the team of forensic surgeons who conducted the autopsy," said a source.

When asked about the family's allegation of custodial torture, sources attached to the hospital replied in the negative. The mortal remains will continue to be in the mortuary as no claimant had reached the hospital till the time of autopsy completion.

And when asked if the police had taken any photographs of the suspect hanging inside the toilet to rule out if it was a case of partial or full hanging, police sources replied in the negative.

And on whether the forensic surgeons would visit the police lockup to study the scene, "If the investigating officials or magistrate make such a request, the forensic surgeons will surely visit the scene, which will help them to get a clearer picture of the circumstances and may even want to recreate the incident and rule out probabilities, if any."

"The Supreme Court, in DK Basu V/s State of West Bengal (1997), outlined guidelines for preventing custodial deaths," said Advocate Dinesh Tiwari. "It emphasised that Article 21 rights must be upheld for prisoners." However, NCRB statistics on custodial deaths paint a different picture, Tiwari added.

April 14
Day shooting took place