Autopsy, inquest today into Nigerian's death as cops get NOC

Police have obtained a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Nig­e­rian High Commission for conducting an inquest and post-mortem on a Nigerian whose death at Byrathi Cross in eastern Bengaluru on March 13, 2017, remains a mystery.

“We contacted the high commission to identify the deceased. When there was no response, our officers went to Delhi and got the NOC on Friday,” a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity.

The NOC was granted on the basis of a letter written to the high commission by the deceased’s younger brother, Uchenna Anthony Nduka, naming Igwe Elvis Ohachosim, the president of Nigerian Community Association, as the local point of contact on any decision-making on the legal formalities, the officer added. The inquest and post-mortem will be conducted on Saturday.

For the record, police maintain that the deceased is yet to be identified. On Thursday, Home Minister G Parameshwara informed the Legislative Council that the deceased was yet to be identified. The officer said Ohachosim, along with other Africans living in Bengaluru, had identified the deceased as Nduka Ifeanyi Christian based on the photocopy of a passport (No A01796255).

“We still have not received the original passport. The photocopy of the passport is the only document the Nigerians have submitted to claim that the deceased is Nduka Ifeanyi Christian whom they earlier identified as Ifeanyi Madu alias Nwa Jesus,” the officer said. A police enquiry about the passport holder showed that he had arrived in India at Mumbai and flew out of New Delhi. “Technically, the person by the name of Nduka Ifeanyi Christian is non-existent in this country,” the officer said. “This could be the reason behind the non-cooperation of the high commission.”

The passport holder was on a two-month business visa which expired in 2012. According to Africans living in Bengaluru, the deceased was 36 years old and his place of birth is Onitsha in Nigeria’s Anambra state. “If he had arrived in India on a fake passport or visa, then we have to look out for that document. We still have nothing on record to establish his identity,” the officer said.