Death of accused: HC slams incomplete autopsy report

Says death of Anuj Thapan in lock-up could have been due to strangulation

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday questioned the state over the post-mortem (PM) report of Anuj Thapan, an accused in the Salman Khan home firing case who allegedly died by suicide in police custody.

A vacation bench of Justices NR Borkar and Somasekhar Sundaresan noted that the PM report did not include diagram of injuries like the ligature marks on Thapan's neck. It also asked whether were any other injury marks.

Thapan was found hanging in the lock-up toilet of the Crime Branch at the Commissionerate Complex in Crawford Market on May 1. The police claimed that he used a bedsheet to take the extreme step.

The court said that as per the report, Thapan's death was due to "asphyxiation".

"The same can be due to strangulation," Borkar said.

Justice "Where is the diagram of the ligature mark? Is the ligature mark oblique in shape or round? Death by asphyxiation can also be because of strangling. It need not be because of hanging only," the court said.