A case of accidental death was registered at the Bajaj Nagar police station. (Representational)
The decomposed body of an IIT graduate, who had returned to hometown Nagpur in Maharashtra from the US last year after working there for more than a year, was found at his house with the police saying that the death of his mother months back had made him depressed and reclusive.
The body of the 36-year-old engineer, identified as Nikhil Srikant Komawar, was found on Tuesday morning after neighbours complained of a foul smell emanating from his rented flat in Surendra Nagar area of the city, where he lived alone, police said on Wednesday.
The police said that although the exact reason behind his death would be clear in the post-mortem report, they believe that it might have been caused due to no intake of food and water for a sustained period.
Komawar was a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati and worked in the US for a leading company for one-and-a-half years before returning to Nagpur last year to take care of his mother after she was diagnosed with a serious ailment, they said.
"Komawar's neighbours complained of a foul smell emanating from his flat. They noticed that the door of the house was ajar. When they peeped in to check what was wrong, they found his body lying inside," a police official said.
Inspector Vitthalsingh Rajput of Bajaj Nagar police station said, "Komawar worked in the US for one-and-a-half years. However, when his mother was diagnosed with a serious ailment, he returned home last year to look after her. His mother, a doctor, passed away several months back, which left him shattered." The death of his mother deeply affected him and he gradually stopped interacting with people. His neighbours said he hardly spoke to anyone, he added.
After the recovery of his decomposed body, it was sent for post-mortem. The preliminary investigation indicated that he might have died three to four days before his body was found, Mr Rajput said.
"When the police checked his residence, it was found that a lot of dust had gathered on the kitchen platform indicating that it had not been used for many days. Komawar's neighbours also said his two-wheeler was not used for around last three months," Mr Rajput said.
A case of accidental death was registered at the Bajaj Nagar police station and investigation into the case is underway, he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)