Night guard found hanging in UP’s Hathras; Family alleges murder, Police probe underway

Hathras (Uttar Pradesh): A man was found dead inside a cold storage facility in Sahpau, Uttar Pradesh, where he was employed as a night guard, police said on Saturday. His body was found hanging from a pillar on the second floor of the building.

While police initially termed it as a case of suicide, the deceased man's family alleged that he had been murdered on Friday, and that efforts were made to portray the death as suicide.

The deceased, identified as Rajkumar, a resident of Garhi Khanjama village in the Sahpau police jurisdiction, had been working as a watchman at Satyam Cold Storage located at Sultanpur Tiraha on Sadabad-Jalesar Road. He was missing since Friday morning, prompting his family to alert the police.

In response to the complaint, officers from the local police station, staff from the cold storage, and Rajkumar’s relatives conducted a search of the ground floor chambers of the facility late on Friday night, but they were unable to find him.

Later that night, they moved to the upper floors of the facility, where they found Rajkumar’s body hanging from a pillar using a "gamchha" (a traditional cloth scarf). Upon the discovery, police officials arrived at the site and called in a forensic team and a dog squad to assist in the investigation.

As officers brought the body down, chaos broke out at the site. The situation quickly escalated, and police reinforcements from neighbouring jurisdictions had to be called in to manage the crowd.

Family members, especially women, protested vehemently, blocking the ambulance and banging their heads against its windows in grief. They claimed Rajkumar was murdered and that his body was deliberately hanged to disguise the crime as a suicide.

"They killed him and then hanged his body to make it look like he ended his life," alleged one of the relatives at the site, accusing the cold storage owner and employees of being involved.

After much persuasion from police, the protesting women eventually moved away from the ambulance, and the body was taken for postmortem examination.

Speaking to reporters, Additional Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar Singh said, "Preliminary information suggests it may be a case of suicide that took place inside the cold storage at night. However, the family has alleged murder and has submitted a written complaint."

"The body has been sent for post-mortem, and we will proceed with further action based on the findings of the report," he said.

Police said that all angles are being investigated and that no possibility is being ruled out at this stage.

PTI