Burnt body case: Murder not suicide

AMBALA: In a twist to the suspected suicide case of Naman Joshi (29), a resident of Sector 4 in Naraingarh, police on Saturday added murder, kidnapping, and destruction of evidence charges to the FIR filed on Wednesday.

Earlier, on the complaint of Naman’s father Dinesh Joshi, police had registered a case of wrongful confinement after he had gone missing on Tuesday at around 4.30pm. On Wednesday night, an unidentified charred dead body, along with a two-wheeler, was recovered behind a bus stand workshop in jungle area of Naraingarh.

The body was in such a bad condition that it could not be identified. Naman’s father told TOI, “Initially the body was not recognisable, but during the post-mortem in Mullana I was called by the police and I managed to identify the body from the mole on his forehead, from his face, and from a bangle recovered at spot. We cremated his body on Friday. We demand a fair probe into this case and culprits should be brought to book.”

“I am a retired bank official and we do not have any enmity with anybody. My son got married nearly two years back and he has a son too. Nearly a month ago, my son and his wife were separated after which he used to remain tense,” he added.

Naraingarh DSP Amit Kumar Bhatia told TOI, “Initially, we suspected it to be a case of suicide but the preliminary medical report (PMR) indicates he was murdered. We are investigating the matter from both the angles.”