Patna: A 20-year-old man, who had been missing for the last four days, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in the basement of a commercial building on New Dak Bungalow Road in Patna on Saturday, triggering panic among local residents.According to police, the deceased was identified as Sonu Ram alias Shukla, a rag-picker and a resident of Kamala Nehru Nagar. His family said he had been missing since Aug 3, following which a missing person report was lodged at Kotwali police station, and they had been searching for him since then. The body was spotted floating in water amid a pile of garbage in the basement of a medical shop in Hira Enclave. Shopkeepers alerted the police through the emergency helpline after noticing the body.Gandhi Maidan police station SHO Akhilesh Kumar Mishra reached the spot with his team and secured the area. A forensic team was called in to examine the spot and collect evidence. After the body was identified, police informed the victim’s family.Mishra said preliminary findings suggest that the youth may have entered the basement to collect recyclable waste and slipped into the accumulated water. “He might have suffered injuries in the fall and died, or he may have drowned. The water level in the basement is quite high,” the SHO said.Police are also examining CCTV footage from nearby areas to rule out any foul play and are tracing the victim’s movements in the days before his disappearance. The victim’s family declined a post-mortem and took the body for the last rites, police said.
