The four friends said their site engineer had died of a heart attack while celebrating his birthday in February; three months on, cops find petroleum-based chemical in body and start murder probe
Priyam Srivastava
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Three months after Priyam Bharti Srivastava, 28, died mysteriously during his birthday lunch in Belapur, the police have filed a murder case against his four flatmates. While talking to his father, the four had made up a story about Priyam suffering a heart attack.
But the forensic reports have now revealed that he died of petroleum hydrocarbon poisoning. The accused have since gone missing. Priyam Srivastava, 28, had built a life around petroleum, never suspecting that it would eventually be his death. He was a site engineer at the Essar Petroleum Company in Belapur, and since 2016, he had shared a flat in Ulwe with four of his colleagues — Abhishek Sharma, Badri Yadav, Bappan Mukherjee and Mayank Chaudhari.
Priyam Srivastava on Feb 13, his birthday
On his birthday on February 13, he cut a cake with his friends, and decided to extend the celebrations with a birthday lunch with his flatmates the next day. "He had called me in the morning, around 11.30 am. My wife Krushna had asked him about his plans for marriage, and whether he was seeing a girl. We offered to search for a bride for him and he agreed. He was very obedient since childhood," said Priyam's father, Vimal Kumar Srivastava, 61, who resides in Banda, Uttar Pradesh.
According to the initial findings of the police, Priyam's friends called him to the Belapur bus stand, from where they picked him up and took him to Rainforest Resto-bar in CBD Belapur. Priyam was feeling uneasy at the restaurant, and he was rushed to Apollo Hospital in an unconscious state. He was declared dead.
Priyam Srivastava celebrated his final birthday with the very flatmates now accused of killing him
Rising suspicion
Abhishek, Badri, Mayank and Bappan were with Priyam when he was taken to the hospital. When Priyam's parents could not reach him, they called Abhishek. His father recalled, "I called Abhishek and asked to speak to Priyam. He said my son had suffered a heart attack and was unconscious. He later revealed that Priyam had died. I was shattered. "I told my relative, Aditya Srivastava to go to Navi Mumbai to claim the body and bring it back to Banda."
Initially, the CBD Belapur police registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR), and sent the blood samples and viscera for forensic analysis. However, during inquiry, Priyam's mother pointed the finger of suspicion at Abhishek. Priyam had told her that there was a dispute over a few crore rupees between him and Abhishek. "We don't know the exact nature of the dispute, but it was over a business set-up planned by Abhishek," said an officer.
Priyam Srivastava
Murder, not heart attack
The suspicions solidified after the forensic reports came out on Tuesday, revealing that the cause of death was "Petroleum hydrocarbon poisoning (Unnatural)". "As soon as the final cause of death was issued, we filed a murder case under Sec 302 and 34 of the IPC, as per the complaint given by his father," said Jayram Chaparia, senior PI of CBD Belapur police station.
The Crime Branch has since taken over the investigation. "The FIR was lodged on Tuesday and we have started investigations. We have to check the entire timeline to find out whether he was poisoned by someone; whether he inhaled or consumed it," said Tushar Doshi, DCP (Crime Branch), Navi Mumbai.
Also read: Mumbai: Cops scratch heads over mysterious disappearance of Charkop resident
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