On his way to Chanditala in the Behala neighbourhood of southwest Kolkata on Monday morning, a retired official of the Taratala mint passed away while seated in an autorickshaw that he had boarded in New Alipore.
Co-travelers of Lal Mani Singh were unaware that the individual seated next to them might be deceased. At Chanditala, as they all exited the vehicle, the 63-year-old was still seated.
“In New Alipore, Singh boarded an autorickshaw. He was still in the car when his fellow passengers disembarked at Chanditala. The driver of the car initially believed that Singh, who was seated in the back, had slept off. Singh slid sideways onto the seat when the man tried to wake him up, according to a Behala police officer.
The car driver sounded the alarm, and the locals gathered. A police alarm was sent. According to the police, Singh was brought to Vidyasagar State General Hospital and pronounced dead there.
Singh was from the Uttar Pradesh city of Bareilly. “After resigning from his position at the mint three years ago, he moved back to Bareilly. He arrived in Kolkata to work, the officer added.
This auto road connects New Alipore to Behala in the southern portion of Kolkata, and it is used by hundreds of people every day. When police allegedly spoke with the auto driver, he allegedly admitted that neither he nor the other passengers with Singh had any idea that he was ill or was about to pass out.
“We discovered an identity card with his address, phone number, and employment information in his shirt pocket. He was a former employee of the mint. The document that was discovered on him makes it clear that he had retired as an “operator,” the officer said.
His Bareilly-based family has been notified. A post-mortem was requested for the body. At the Behala police station, a case regarding an unnatural death has been opened.
There were no obvious signs of injury on Singh, according to a senior police officer in the south-west division of the Kolkata police.
The officer predicted that the post-mortem report would reveal the precise cause of death.