Letter pleading not guilty found in dead driver’s pocket

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, June 12: A letter written by Bharat Kumar (40), whose dead body was recently discovered across a railway track, to police officers reveals that the horticulture department vehicle driver was upset by efforts made to frame him in the case of dumping pesticides and fertilizers in the dry well close to Kadri Park. According to the letter, the deceased was being pressurized to say that he was guilty. 

In his letter, Kumar stated that he is not involved in the incident. He had only transported the pesticides and fertilizers to Kadri Park according to his superior’s instructions. Urging that the guilty should be punished, Kumar said that he doesn’t feel like going to the office even though he has nothing to do with the incident. 

Kumar, who hails from Kasargod, lived in the government quarters at Urwa Stores. He had gone to the office as usual, but had left the premises after a couple of hours saying he had to go to Kasargod for some urgent work. 

His body was found at 1:45 p.m. across the railway track near Kapikad. The police have not yet confirmed if his death was due to suicide or accident. The railway police registered a case of unnatural death. The horticulture department, in the meantime, claims that he committed suicide. 

Kumar’s colleagues say that he did not support the idea of dumping the pesticides and fertilizers into the dry well. The district administration had questioned Kumar along with senior officials of the horticulture department. 

As soon as the incident was made known, DC V. Ponnuraj, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, and others visited the site. The DC has ordered a probe into the case because of the discrepancies in the answers given by the officials of the horticulture department

Horticulture department driver’s dead body found on railway tracks

Mangalore, June 11: The dead body of the driver of a horticulture department vehicle was found across the railway tracks on June 10 Friday at Kapikad, a village located between the river Nethravathi and Ullal.  

 

 

 

The deceased is Bharat Kumar, aged 40, who is believed to be the same person who drove a mini lorry loaded with pesticides from the warehouse to Kadri Park on Wednesday. His death has given a new twist to the case of pesticides dumped into the dry well. The horticulture department has confirmed the identity of its driver. 

According to the railway police, the man was crushed to death beneath a running train between 1 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Friday. The police are now investigating the mysterious death of the driver. Official sources say that they have not yet confirmed if the case is suicide or murder. They can only state that the body was found on the railway tracks. 

Bharat Kumar had visited the dry well at Kadri Park, in which organic pesticides and fertilizers were dumped, with the deputy director of the horticulture department on June 10, Thursday. MP Nalin Kumar Kateel had also questioned the man on the occasion.