Ex-army man found dead inside his flat in Ghaziabad

GHAZIABAD: A 65-year-old retired army personnel was found dead in his second-floor flat in Vijay Nagar’s Pratap Vihar’s F Block on Friday. Police said the body seemed to be two-three days old.
The deceased was identified as Silva Raju, originally from Chennai but living in Ghaziabad for the past many years. He is survived by his wife Kalai Selvi and daughter Kirthi.
Since the last two months, Raju had been living alone as his wife and daughter had gone to Bengaluru to stay with his son Karthik Raj, who is a software engineer.
Raju’s brother-in-law Bala Subramanian, who lives with his family in the neighbourhood, said Karthik called him on Friday morning and asked him to check on his father as his phone had been unreachable.
“I went to his flat and found it locked from inside. A pungent smell was emanating from the house. I rang the bell several times but did not get any response. Subsequently, with the help of neighbours I broke open the main door and found Raju dead on his bed,” Subramanian said.
Police ruled out any foul play. “It is quite surprising that the neighbours did not notice the foul smell. There is a possibility that the man had died because of a heart attack. However, it can be ascertained only after a post-mortem,” said a police officer posted at Vijay Nagar.
Subramanian said Raju’s family members will reach Ghaziabad soon.
In April 2018, the decomposed body of a 65-year-old defence personnel, who also hailed from Tamil Nadu, was found in his 11th-floor flat at Signature Homes in Raj Nagar Extension. He was believed to have died a week before his body was discovered.