56-year-old NRI dies after falling off high-rise in Oshiwara

According to police,Raju was looking for an apartment. He had seen several properties since his arrival in the city,they added. Around 10.30 am Sunday,he went to the 28-storey Lashkariya building in Oshiwara and approved of a duplex flat through the apartment’s broker. The broker’s office is in the basement of the building.

“Raju told the broker that he would return in the evening with his financier and finalise the deal. He made an entry in the building’s visitor’s diary around 5.55 pm. His body was found in the building’s basement at 6.20 pm,” said an officer from Oshiwara police station.

After the security guards alerted the police,Raju was rushed to Cooper Hospital,where he was declared brought dead. Police said that his body was mutilated.

Postmortem report revealed that he had no injuries apart from the ones caused due to the fall,police said.

“It is still unclear which floor he fell from. But since he suffered very serious injuries,we suspect that he fell from the top-most floor,” said an officer.

Police said when they questioned the broker,he claimed that Raju never visited him on Sunday evening. The broker’s statement has been recorded and the case is being investigated further.

Raju’s children and wife will arrive in the city Tuesday. Police will question them to find out if Raju was suffering from depression.

Police said they are also probing the possibility of Raju being murdered. “If it is a murder,we don’t know the motive yet. All the valuables he was carrying were intact. Also,he wasn’t carrying a large amount of cash. Besides,the broker and Raju did not know each other before they met Sunday,” said the officer. CCTV footage of the building is being scanned by police to gain further leads into the case.

“As of now,it is unclear if it was a suicide or a murder. No suicide note has been recovered. We have recorded it as accidental death and are probing the case from all angles,” said Nasir Pathan,senior inspector,Oshiwara police station.

mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com