A 34-year-old financial adviser was found dead in a locked car filled with smoke in Northeast Bengaluru on Friday.
Kaushik Shetty’s partially burnt body was found in a Maruti Swift at a desolate place on MVIT Road in Sathanur near Hosahalli. Police found two bottles partially filled with petrol inside the car and believe Shetty probably died from asphyxiation.
Shetty worked for American financial services company Northern Trust whose office is located at Manyata Tech Park, Nagawara. He had left his Fraser Town home around noon but did not head to the office. His family tried contacting him by phone but he didn’t respond. The worried family later filed a missing person complaint at the Pulakeshinagar police station on Thursday night.
The next afternoon, the family learnt that a Maruti Swift fitting their description was found on MVIT Road. The family rushed to the spot and found the car locked from inside and filled with misty smoke. They broke the car window only to find Kaushik’s partially burnt body.
A senior police officer said the incident was likely to have occurred during the intervening night of Thursday and Friday. The officer further said that although Shetty appeared to have set himself afire, the resultant burn injuries would not cause the death. Asphyxiation seems to be the cause of death, he said, adding that only the post-mortem report would explain how exactly he died.
Kala Krishnaswamy, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast), said Shetty’s friends suggested he faced harassment at the workplace. “His family told us that he was a happy man. We are still questioning his colleagues,” she added. The jurisdictional Bagalur police have opened a case of murder following a complaint from Shetty’s brother Abhishek.