Bareilly medico death case: ‘Accident’ theory falls apart; classmate arrested, bloodied stick clinches case

BAREILLY: In a twist to the Nov 2024 "accidental death case" of a second-year MBBS student at a private medical college in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur, police have arrested his friend on Friday for murdering him over a monetary dispute.The 22-year-old victim, Kushagra Pratap Singh, a resident of Gorakhpur, was found dead on Oct 6 last year behind a three-storey hostel building. Initially, the college administration claimed that the victim consumed liquor and might have fallen off the terrace.The investigation was transferred to Bareilly Crime Branch in Nov 2024 after the victim's father, unsatisfied with the probe by Shahjahanpur police, reached the Janta Darbar of CM Yogi Adityanath. Crime Branch SHO Sanjay Dheer said, "The Shahjahanpur police did not even inspect the terrace of the hostel. The victim had injuries on his head, kidney, hands and ribs. Even the autopsy wasn't conducted properly, and all the injuries were not mentioned in the report." During investigation, SHO Dheer found that Kushagra had a financial dispute with his classmate Viraj Patel, son of a radiologist at Prayagraj's Motilal Nehru Medical College.

Viraj allegedly took Rs 5.5 lakh from Kushagra on the pretext of investing it, and gave it to his friend. But, Patel's friend fled with the money, and this led to frequent quarrels between Kushagra and Viraj.On the night of the incident, both the medicos clashed, and Viraj was seen by other hostellers roaming with a stick. The next morning, Kushagra's body was found. The blood-stained stick was later seized from Viraj's room four months later. After forensic confirmation, Viraj was arrested from Shahjahanpur on Friday evening and produced in court on Saturday. He was remanded in 14-day judicial custody."Evidence clearly proves it was murder, and the accused has been sent to jail," said SSP Anurag Arya.