Decomposed body found hanging at JNU forest

JNU Campus (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal/Files) 

The decomposed body of a 40-year-old man was found hanging inside the forest on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus Tuesday evening. Police have informed the victim’s family and initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC.

DCP (southwest) Milind Dumbere said the dead was identified as Rampravesh Singh, a resident of Najafgarh. He drove heavy vehicles. “No suicide note was found at the spot. He worked as a truck driver and was missing since Monday night. Prime facie it appears that Singh was suffering from depression over some family dispute, and it might be the reason behind his suicide. Some construction work is on at the campus and he had gone there to dump construction material,” he said.

“The incident came to light at 5.45 pm Tuesday after the university’s security staff informed police that one of the security guards detected a foul smell emanating from the forest at Nelson Mandela Road and found a body,” he added.

After receiving the PCR call, local police rushed to the spot. “We have recovered the victim’s cell phone, Aadhaar card, election card, driving licence, and a badge from his clothes,” he said. “Prima facie, it appears that the body may have been hanging for the past couple of days. The exact cause of the death will be confirmed only after autopsy. The team is also taking help of university officials,” an officer said.

“The body was discovered a little before 6 pm during a regular boundary patrolling. It was hanging around 50 metres outside the boundary near Nelson Mandela road, inside the forested area,” said Chief Security Officer Naveen Yadav.

JNU Registrar Pramod Kumar said the body was found some distance away from the BSES plant on campus, within the forest. “Our Chief Security Officer was present when the police took the body,” he said.