Dahisar mystery death: Yashodhara Shetty died of ‘asphyxia’, reveals post-mortem report

Mumbai: The post-mortem report of Yashodhara Shetty (53) reveals that he has died of ‘asphyxia’ as food particles choked his wind pipe. Shetty and his two friends were on the way to a bar in an auto on Sunday night when his three wheeler dashed a motorcycle.

The Additional Commissioner of Police Rajesh Pradhan said, “It is just a preliminary report. Shetty’s viscera and tissue samples have been reserved and sent to forensic lab for chemical analysis and histopathology reports. The forensic report will reveal Shetty’s actual cause of death.” The zonal Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Dr Vinaykumar Rathod said, “The food particles choked his wind pipe. We are probing what caused him to vomit.”

The forensic head of KEM hospital, Dr Harish Pathak, said, “The vomiting could be consequence of blunt force trauma to the head. In case of vomiting, gag reflex is suppressed and the food particles enters into wind pipe and the person can be choked to death. And the gag reflex is suppressed due to intoxication or head injuries. So it is very important to go to the eye witness accounts. Generally the gag reflex of a person gets suppressed if he has consumed alcohol or if he is given anaesthesia,” said Dr Pathak.

One of the eye-witnesses told the Free Press Journal Shetty was neither assaulted at the spot nor was he beaten by anyone at the police station. The investigators are scrutinising CCTV footage of the spot where both the groups indulged into heated argument. Shetty’s post-mortem was conducted by a team of three doctors at JJ Hospital and one-hour long post-mortem was video recorded, said a senior police official. Both the groups (Shetty and motorcyclists) had verbal argument near Dahisar check-naka where around 100 people gathered. The night patrolling team of Dahisar police hauled them to police station where both the groups engaged into heated argument. Suddenly, Shetty collapsed and started to throw up at police station. The officer administered him CPR to resuscitate but his health condition deteriorated. Dahisar police rushed Shetty to nearby hospital but he died on the way.