Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Weeks after suicide by principal, another body dug up in compound of West Delhi school

(This is the really lame result of my attempt to do a sensational type story)
In the days leading up to 11 April, children studying in the S V Public School in Baprolla, South West Delhi, played behind brightly coloured doors decorated with cartoon images of Chacha Chaudhry, Micky Mouse and Donald Duck. Little did they know their innocent games were being played over a dead body buried just a meter below their feet.
On April 11 the decomposed body of a 25 year old man was dug up from a shallow grave inside the school compound. The incident took place less than a month after the principal of the school Pankaj Bhardwaj had commited suicide in the school premises.
The body recovered was that of Dinesh, a resident of Raj Nagar in Palam who had gone missing on 20 March. Senior police sources say they believe the principal killed the missing individual and buried his body. Police suspect that he subsequently committed suicide out of guilt.
A local resident of Baprolla, Bimla Devi’s job was to open the gates of the school for the students in the morning and close them after they left. She remembered the principal as a quiet man who kept to himself. She said that Pankaj had asked her son to dig a hole in the school’s small open area on the 17 March. “He said he wanted to bury some cancer medicines that belonged to his father. When I came to the school two days later the pit had been filled up.”
Three days after the hole was found filled up by Bimla Devi, Pankaj was found hanging from a ceiling fan in one of the classrooms. A teacher at the school, Savita Manipandey told Newsline “After his death on 22 March, his family were running the school ”
Bimla Devi’s son, Joginder said that on 11 April, members of Pankaj’s family asked him to dig up the hole. “They said that they wanted to examine the newly filled up area. After I started digging a little bit, I saw a human foot sticking out of the dirt.”
Police sources say the body bore the signs of injuries to the head as well as blunt weapon trauma to the body. Rope marks were found on the neck. Police however are uncertain if the slightly built Pankaj killed Dinesh himself or with other associates. They say an FIR has been registered today against unknown persons. DCP Sharad Aggarwal said Pankaj and Dinesh may have been known to each other as they are residents of the same locality (Palam). However he added that it was too early to say anything as investigations in the case have only just started.
Pankaj Bhardwaj’s family was untraceable.

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