Missing man’s body found floating in Sukhna Lake

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 5

Despite the ban imposed by the Chandigarh Administration on entry to Sukhna Lake following the bird flu scare, the bloated body of a 38-year-old Nayagaon resident was found floating near the boating area of the lake this afternoon, raising a question mark on the police surveillance at the lake.

The police suspect that the victim, Sanjeev Kumar, committed suicide.

Though the victim apparently walked up to the lake before jumping to death, the police have no clue as to how he ended up committing suicide. The lake is out of bounds for people as the UT is waiting for the water sample report from the Bhopal laboratory.

The victim, who is survived by his wife and two children, was missing from his residence for the past one week and a DDR in this regard was lodged on December 29 at the Nayagaon police station.

A policeman probing the matter said the victim was under stress for being unemployed from many months. “The incident came to light around 12.05 pm. Police officials noticed a body floating near the boating area. The victim was brought out with the help of divers and taken to Government Multi-Specialty Hospital, Sector 16, where he was declared brought dead,” said Guriqbal Singh, ASP, Chandigarh.

The police identified the deceased with the help of proofs found in his pocket. His family, which was in Khanna, reached Chandigarh in the evening after it was informed about the incident.

“No suicide note was found from the spot. Family members of the deceased said he was missing for the past one week,” said the ASP.

Sandip Duggal, the victim’s brother, refused to comment on the issue.

A case has been registered at the Sector 3 police staiton and inquest proceedings have been initiated into the matter. The postmortem will be conducted tomorrow.