Former Army officer''s body lies unclaimed in Pune morgue
Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, February 4
The body of a former captain in the Indian Army is lying in a Pune morgue after none of his relatives have come forward to claim it, according to police.
Ravindra Kumar Bali, 67, an alumnus of the National Defence Academy at Khadakvasla in Pune, was living on the footpath near the officers’ mess in Pune Cantonment after his flat was reportedly repossessed by the
bank for non-payment of loans.
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Police said Bali was attacked by two persons who beat him up and smashed his head with a boulder.
He was taken to Sassoon Hospital by passers-by where doctors declared him dead early Friday morning.
According to officials at the Lashkar police station, Bali may have been killed by criminals who extorted money from pavement dwellers.
Bali’s relatives were traced to Kota in Rajasthan but they were not in touch with him for nearly 30 years, police said.
“We were told by some of his relatives that they were not even aware that he was living in Pune,” the duty officer at the Lashkar police station said.
The police were also told by Bali’s relatives that he was married with a daughter and a son but was estranged from his family.
Sources say Bali was in the Army for 18 years though it is not clear under what circumstances he quit the service.
Officials from the Pune Municipal Corporation, which has taken custody of Bali’s remains, say they will wait for the next few days before deciding on their next course of action.
As a rule unclaimed bodies are disposed off as per the dead person’s religion after a photograph of the deceased is taken for the records.
