The death of two men in seemingly unexplained circumstances in Lucknow this week was initially thought to be natural by police but the post-mortem changed the course of the investigation in two separate cases, revealing alleged liquor-fuelled assaults and fatal head injuries, turning both incidents into murder cases.
One man was found dead on the rear seat of a locked car at Saleh Nagar under the Ashiana police stations after residents noticed a foul smell and the other lay in an empty plot in Bakshi Ka Talab with no obvious external injuries.
Following a similar investigative trail in the two cases with differing circumstances, police went back to the hours before the deaths, pulled CCTV footage, analysed digital and electronic evidence and reconstructed the victims’ final movements. The probes eventually led to the arrest of seven men in separate cases, police said.
What the scene initially did not reveal, the post-mortem did; what the post-mortem suggested, CCTV and digital evidence helped reconstruct. In both investigations, police had to look beyond the place where the bodies were eventually found to establish what happened in the hours before death.
For Ashiana police, the starting point was a foul smell from a locked car. For BKT police, it was a body lying in an empty plot with no visible wounds.
In Ashiana, Gyanendra Singh, a 36-year-old fintech employee, was found dead inside his locked car near Saleh Nagar crossing on August 6. The discovery came after residents noticed a foul smell from the parked vehicle. There were initially few clues about what had happened to him.
“The breakthrough came with the post-mortem, which established that Gyanendra had suffered a fatal head injury. His brother subsequently lodged a murder complaint, prompting investigators to retrace his movements before his death,” said DCP Central Vikrant Vir.
“CCTV footage allegedly showed Gyanendra getting into a fight at a country liquor shop following a dispute over drinking,” the DCP added.
Police said he suffered the fatal injury during the altercation. His body was then allegedly placed on the rear seat of the car, which was driven to Saleh Nagar crossing and abandoned.
The CCTV trail eventually led police to Sachin alias China, 30, and Jitendra alias Jeetu, 37, who were arrested on August 8.
In the second case, the initial picture was strikingly similar. Anil Kumar, 36, was found dead in an empty plot near Amouli Lawn in BKT on August 3. There were no obvious injuries on his body and his family initially told police that he was a habitual drinker.
Again, the post-mortem changed the narrative: Anil had died from a head injury.
“CCTV footage showed him involved in a physical altercation with a group of men hours before his body was found. Digital and electronic evidence collected during the investigation subsequently helped police identify five men — Durgesh Yadav, Kuber Yadav alias Amar Yadav, Ranjit Rawat, Ramkesh Yadav and Awadhesh Yadav — who were arrested on August 8,” said DCP North Amit K Anand.
Police said the five had been drinking near a roadside kiosk when they allegedly asked Anil for money to buy liquor. His refusal led to a scuffle, during which he allegedly fell on bricks in the foundation of a nearby plot and suffered the fatal head injury.
