Family alleges foul play in Souvik's death, demands probe

The family of Souvik Pal, an Indian student whose body was found weeks after he went missing in Manchester, United Kingdom, on Thursday demanded that the British government order a probe into his mysterious death.

"We have written a letter to the UK health minister asking him to initiate a probe into the mysterious death of Souvik. The British government and Manchester police should look into the case from the angle of kidnap and killing," Pal's grandfather Alokranjan Pal told PTI in Bangalore.

The body of Pal, who went missing from a New Year party, was recovered from a canal near Manchester United club's football ground on January 22.

Alokranjan said the family had received the acknowledgement for the letter from the UK health ministry.

He alleged that on the very first day of the investigation Manchester police had searched the canal Manchester United club's football ground, but could not recover Souvik's body.

However, it is surprising that the body was recovered from the same canal on January 22, giving enough room for suspicion that Souvik was kidnapped and killed and later thrown into the canal, Alokranjan alleged. He also questioned the Manchester police ruling out any foul play surrounding Souvik's death before post-mortem could be conducted.

He also dismissed the Manchester police claim that Souvik was under the influence of drug when he was chucked out of the Warehouse Project Club at Manchester where he was partying.

"It is hard to accept this claim of Manchester police because the CCTV footage clearly showed that Souvik was not in an inebriated condition," he contended.

Alokranjan also questioned the Manchester police’s silence over the missing mobile phone in possession of Souvik, whereas they recovered passport and wristwatch he carried with him.