Man deported to India found dead

VADODARA, April 5: The Vadodara police today recovered the body of a 42-year-old man near a garbage dump in the Fatehgunj area of the cit...

VADODARA, April 5: The Vadodara police today recovered the body of a 42-year-old man near a garbage dump in the Fatehgunj area of the city. The man, identified as Narsinh D Patel, had landed in the US with illegal papers. He was deported, and is believed to have died soon after his arrival in India.

The police suspect that the man died of shock brought on by his financial condition. The body bore no mark of injury; his pant zip was open, giving rise to speculation that he had stopped to relieve himself at the garbage dump. However, the police are waiting for the most-mortem report before conducting any further inquiry.

Police sources said that Patel, a farmer in Mehsana district, left India as part of a 72-strong group after selling his property for Rs 9 lakhs. With this money, he reportedly paid Rs 8 lakhs to an agent and Rs 1 lakh for a ticket and other travelling expenses.

An air ticket for April 2 from Dallas to Mumbai and a railway ticket for April 4, 1999 from Mumbai to Anand was found in Patel8217;s pocket. Also recovered was an exchange receipt for Rs 1,992 issued by the State Bank of India at Sahar International Airport in Mumbai and Rs 1,600 in cash.

A diary containing telephones numbers and names of family members of 32 others who had gone with Patel to the US was also found in his pocket. All these numbers are of Mehsana, Borsad, Karitha and Anand. The police made calls to some of these and talked to the persons named in the diary who confirmed that their family members had gone to the USA. They were also aware that these migrants had been jailed because of incomplete and/or forged travel documents, Mishra said.

The body was identified by C D Patel, the deceased8217;s brother-in-law, who works in the city. Patel told the police that he was aware of his deportation but did not know when he would be landing in India and whether in Mumbai or Delhi. He said that a fellow villager of the deceased lived in the area where the body was recovered; Patel might have been going there.