BHUBANESWAR: The mysterious death of Manipur youth L Poumai, who was found hanging on the premises of an OAS officer’s official residence in Bhubaneswar on December, is throwing up a whole lot of unconnected dots.
Poumai had last communication with his family from Visakhapatnam on November 29 when he was aboard the Dibrugarh-Bangalore Express. How and why did he travel a long 354-km backward to Balugaon, where he was found lying injured near the railway station a day later on November 30, has baffled investigators.
Poumai’s brother Angelus has given a statement that they had last heard from the 23-year-old from Visakhapatnam on November 29 at about 4.55 pm. He had told them that he was being bullied by five persons on the train. He had also handed over the phone to a TTE to describe the situation in the compartment to Angelus.
The family now demands that the same TTE can prove to be a vital link in the case by identifying the youths who were bullying Poumai. “My son told me that five persons were harassing him and was repeatedly saying that he will be cut into pieces once the night falls,” Poumai’s mother said.
Further, the Dibrugarh-Bangalore Express on which Poumai was travelling does not stop at Balugaon and since he had minor bruises, there was no chance that he jumped or was pushed from a running train.
The doctor attending to Poumai at Balugaon CHC had referred him to Capital Hospital here. “Was it necessary to admit a person who had minor bruises as an indoor patient?” lawyer Asphiri Zho, who has taken up the case for the family, questioned.
Poumai went missing from the Capital Hospital on November 30 night and on December 2, he was found hanging on the premises of a Government quarters at Unit VI here. Angelus alleged that the shirt from which his brother was hanging was not his own.
Poumai’s family received his body and left for Manipur on Saturday. His funeral was conducted at Senapati district amidst hue and cry by locals demanding a CBI inquiry into the incident.