Police yet to probe death

VADODARA, April 7: More than 48 hours after Mehsana-resident Narsinh D Patel's body was found here, the police are yet to begin investiga...

VADODARA, April 7: More than 48 hours after Mehsana-resident Narsinh D Patel8217;s body was found here, the police are yet to begin investigating the circumstances surrounding his death, or the racket of sending people to the United States with forged documents.

The police initially established contact with some of the persons mentioned in the papers found in Patel8217;s pocket, but no action has so far been taken on the information provided by these people. Nor has the police cared to probe Patel8217;s death with any seriousness.

Reconstructing events from the papers found on him, it appears that Patel, after his deportation from the USA, landed at Sahar International Airport on April 3 and exchanged US 48 for Rs 1,992 at the State Bank of India8217;s airport branch at 9.28 p.m. Subsequently, he bought an ordinary train ticket for Rs 96 for his April 4 journey from Mumbai to Anand. His body was found near a garbage dump in Vadodara on the morning of April 5.

The chain of events give rise to a host of questions: Why did the man buy a ticket for Anand when he belonged to Mehsana? Why did he alight from the train at Vadodara, not at Anand? Where is his luggage? Apparently, Patel went to the USA on forged documents. Who is the travel agents who arranged his journey to the US? Did the agent have prior knowledge about his deportation? Could he have been killed to save the agent8217;s skin?

Patel8217;s post-mortem report provides no clue about the cause of death; the viscera has been sent for chemical examination, which will take some time.

While PI N M Parmar, who took charge of the Fatehgunj police station 8212; in whose jurisdiction the body was found 8212; yesterday, said that he was seized of the matter and was planning to send a police team to the Sahar International Airport to find details regarding Patel8217;s arrival from the US.

All that Deputy Commissioner of Police North P K Velera could say was, 8220;We are collecting evidence8221;. Asked about the efforts to catch and interrogate the agents named by relatives of the people jailed in the USA, Velera merely said, 8220;Arrests cannot be made in a hurry8221;.

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But the fact is that the police hasn8217;t even questioned the travel agent whose office and mobile telephone numbers, as well as address, were given to senior officers by relatives of the jailed persons. The names and telephone numbers of the jailed persons were found in Patel8217;s pocket.

Inquiries in Ahmedabad, where the agent is based, and in Mehsana, from where the deceased hailed, revealed that the Vadodara city police have not even contacted their counterparts to find out details about the agents and their operations.