Army Officer Dies Suspiciously in DTC Bus, Family Claims Foul Play

His family isn’t convinced by the police’s explanation & wants a detailed investigation into Colonel Pratap’s death.

Colonel Samrendra Pratap. 

(Photo: The Quint)

A two-time Vishisht Seva Medal and a Sena Medal awardee, 51-year-old Colonel Samrendra Pratap’s service record was by no means average. Between 2012-2014, he was posted in Siachen when India-China tensions were at their peak.

On 1 January, Colonel Samrendra Pratap was found dead on Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus L 77B, which plies on the Dwarka to New Delhi Station route. The police claim he died of a heart attack. But his family has reason to suspect that his was no natural death.

The police want to hush up the matter because if they investigate it, then they might have to question some very senior Army officials.

*Rashmi, Close Relative

The officer, originally from the Bihar Regiment, was posted in the headquarters of Delhi Area as Additional Staff Officer since 2015, which means he was primarily engaged in administrative work.

On 1 January, Colonel Samrendra Pratap left his official residence in the Delhi Cantonment area at around 2:30 pm on a scooty along with his domestic help. He rode to the bus stand about a kilometre away. There, he dropped off the domestic help, who rode the scooty back home, and boarded the DTC bus.

But Colonel Pratap’s family is puzzled, as he was not known to take public transport. Why would he suddenly board a DTC bus?

He could’ve had three cars lined up for him within two minutes. Why did he feel the need to take the bus? I don’t ever remember him having taken a DTC bus. Before leaving, he did not tell anyone that he planned to take public transport. All he said was he would return home a little late in the evening.

*Rashmi, Close Relative

Family Challenges Police’s ‘Heart Attack’ Theory

As per the statements of the DTC bus driver and conductor recorded by the police, Colonel Pratap purchased a day pass for Rs 50 upon boarding, and had collapsed on his seat at 5:30 pm. He was rushed to the Lok Nayak hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

According to the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Anto Alphonse, the preliminary medical report indicated that Colonel Pratap may have died of a heart attack.

For now, a case has been registered under Section 174 of the CrPC. As of now, we don’t have any evidence to suggest that there was foul play.

Anto Alphonse, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police

But the family contradicts the police’s stand on the preliminary medical report. They claim that it also mentions the presence of an unknown poison in his body.

The first medical report provided by the hospital says there were no external injuries, but there were traces of some unknown poison in his body. Also, consider the fact that he had no history of any physical ailments.

*Rashmi, Close Relative

It is to be noted that the inquest under Section 174 CrPC indicates an open-ended investigation, which means the police aren’t completely ruling out foul play.

When The Quint probed the police about the details of this disputed medical report, an officer said that for now, the doctors are maintaining that the cause of death was “probably” natural.

Clearly, there is some discrepancy in the information being given out by the police themselves on the cause of death; from ‘natural’ to ‘probably natural’.

The family has refused to believe that the Colonel died of heart attack or that he died of any natural causes.

According to *Rashmi, the Army is also conducting an internal inquiry into his mysterious death.

Family Tracked the Colonel’s Phone

Colonel Samrendra Pratap was admitted to the Lok Nayak hospital as an unknown patient and he did not have his mobile phone or any ID cards on him. When he failed to return home by 6 pm, his family started to look for him.

Since his mobile phone was switched off, they were unable to reach him. That’s when his daughter, who lives abroad – but who knew his user ID and password – logged in from a computer and detected his last known location. The location she found indicated that his mobile phone had gone missing from the Lok Nayak hospital itself.

According to *Rashmi, when the Colonel left his Delhi Cantonment home, he was dressed in civil clothes, was carrying around Rs 1,600 in his wallet and had a mobile phone on him. But when the family reached the hospital, they found the money intact, but the phone gone.

His family also says he never left home without his ID card. But on the day of his death, he did leave it at home.

What About a Personal Angle?

Colonel Samrendra Pratap lived with his mother and wife. His two children are both abroad. When asked if there was had been any quarrel when he left the house, *Rashmi said there had been no argument between him and any member of the family.

Just two days ago, he was scouting for a venue for a wedding in the family. He was happy and excited about it. As for any professional problem, he never shared anything with us. 

*Rashmi, Close Relative

Unanswered Questions:

• Why would Colonel Samrendra Pratap, who never takes public transport, choose to take a DTC bus? Was he scheduled to meet someone on board the bus?
• Considering the police has declared a ‘heart attack’ as the cause of death, but the family maintains that the preliminary medical report states the presence of an unknown poison in his body, is there a conscious effort to hush up the case?

*Name changed to protect identity.