The body of a retired Indian Forest Service officer, who was an observer in two Vyapam recruitment tests of Madhya Pradesh, was found dead on a railway track in Odisha, the police said on Saturday.
Bahadur’s body was found on a railway track near Belpahar station under South-Eastern Railways’ Jharsuguda junction on Thursday, the police said.
Bahadur was travelling to Bhopal from Puri in Odisha with his wife Nita Singh by the Puri-Jodhpur Express.
Superintendent Railway Police (Rourkela) Karam Sey Kawar said over phone that prima facie it appears that Bahadur accidentally fell off the running train and died.
The official, however, said that the actual cause of death would be ascertained after the post-mortem report would be made available to the Government Railway Police.
“We are investigating into the matter even though no FIR was filed by the family members at our police station,” said Kawar, adding that the family has already taken the body after the autopsy.
Police sources said Nita Singh reported to the train conducter about her husband going missing only after reaching Raigarh station, about 70 km from Jharsuguda district. She said that her husband had gone to close the door of the coach but never returned.
Bahadur’s death is the first incident after the Supreme Court in July handed over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is inquiring into the Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal (Vyapam), or the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) scam and cases related to the mysterious deaths of over 40 accused or witnesses.
The CBI has so far registered over 80 FIRs and launched over 10 preliminary inquiries into the Vyapam scam.