Missing engineer found dead in Rajkot apartment’s water tank

Body of a 50-year-old engineer was found in the underground water tank of his apartment on the Yagnik Road in Rajkot on Thursday,two days after he went missing. Hiten Mehta,a resident of Om Shivam Apartment,was working in the state Irrigation department as junior engineer. His family said they spoke to him last on Tuesday evening when he was about to leave his office.

This morning,one of the residents of the apartment found his body in the water tank when he removed its cover for some work,said A-Division police Sub-Inspector G L Vishani,who is investigating the case. Vishani added: “The cause of the death is a matter of investigation. We are waiting for postmortem report to take any further step. At this point,we cannot say whether it was an accident,murder or suicide.”

The police said that on Tuesday evening Mehta had called up his family from office and said he would reach home within half an hour. When he did not reach home in time,his family searched for him and found his two-wheeler in the apartment parking along with its key and his wallet. They immediately informed the police and expressed the possibility of abduction.

On Wednesday,the police checked his mobile phone call records and found that Mehta had spoken to a colleague,the office peon and a couple of relatives before his cellphone was switched off.

“His cellphone,wristwatch and some other accessories were found with the body,” said Vishani.

The police said the water tank is six-foot deep and located a few steps away from the apartment parking lot.