Headless body in river holds up traffic on Pune bridge

Pune: The recovery of a headless body under the Holkar Bridge in Khadki yesterday sent shockwaves through the area and turned a lazy afternoon into a suspense-filled occasion. An alleged denial by Cantonment fire brigade officials to fish out the body added to the tense moments, as commuters kept halting to take a look at the highly decomposed body of a boy lying on a rock under the bridge.

30-minute wait
According to sources, the body was fished out almost 30 minutes later; the operation allegedly could not begin till the police had traced a person who agreed to do the job for alcohol. The police and the fire brigade both denied this allegation and said it was a fire brigade official who fished out the body. According to commuters, the highly decomposed body led to suspense for some time. They said people did not know what to expect till the body was recovered after the Khadki police finally found a person with enough courage to do the job. Traffic on the Holkar Bridge was affected as commuters passing over the bridge parked their vehicles along its side to take a look.

Drowned or killed?
According to the Khadki police, the head has been severed from the body and the palms were also detached.

The police could not say whether it was a case of murder. "I am not aware whether fire brigade officials refused to fish out the body," said Police Inspector Nishikant Bhujbal of the Khadki police station.

Khadki Cantonment fireman R R Jagga said an employee of the fire brigade was called in for the job as it was a tricky operation and the body was trapped in the rocky portion of the riverbed. Bhujbal said they were now waiting for the post-mortem report. "Whether it is a case of drowning or murder will be cleared only after autopsy report," said the officer. "We will inform all police stations about the body that was found under the bridge in our effort to know the identity of the deceased."