Cold wave kills 3, police told to shift homeless to night shelters
CRUEL WINTER
GURUGRAM: Three persons died on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday due to severe cold, the police said.
The deceased were identified as Tulsi Sharma, 55, a resident of Krishna Colony, and 40-year-old Yogendra Saha, a homeless person in Kherki Daula. The police could not ascertain the identity of the third deceased, also allegedly homeless, till Friday evening.
Post-mortem examination was conducted on two of them. Reports revealed that they succumbed to the cold wave that the city is currently experiencing.
Dr Deepak Mathur, forensic expert at the Civil Hospital, who conducted the autopsy, said, “Sharma suffered a heart attack due to exposure to the cold weather, and Saha died due to respiratory failure, also a result of extreme cold. The unidentified man appears to have died due to prolonged exposure to dry cold conditions.”
The police said the third man’s body would be kept in the mortuary
for 72 hours for identification before the autopsy is done.
The family members of Sharma told the police that he collapsed at his home in Krishna Colony in the wee hours of Friday. He was rushed to the Civil Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. Saha, on the other hand, was found dead outside a shop in Kherki Daula on Friday morning. Their bodies were handed over to the family members after the post-mortem examination on Friday afternoon. In the third incident, the police control room received a call around 11 am from a private hospital that a beggar was brought dead to the hospital from Sector 4 on Friday morning.
“The exact cause of death will be revealed after the autopsy. But, prima facie, it seems that he died of cold. We are trying to trace his antecedents,” said Shamsher Singh, assistant commissioner of police (crime). The police have initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CRPC.
MCG commissioner Yashpal Yadav said he has formed a six members’ team and has directed the officials to shift people who are found sleeping in the streets to one of the 10 night shelters operating in the city. Yadav also said that an awareness programme will be conducted in the city regarding these night shelters.