Belagavi MLA's son 'falls to death from moving train'

Sagar Patil, the son of former Belagavi South MLA, Sambhajirao Patil, was killed under mysterious circumstances in the Yeshwantpur railway station surroundings on Monday night.

A senior police officer from the railways said the body of 40-year-old Sagar was found a few metres away from the tracks. A passer-by alerted the beat police following which the body was shifted to a hospital. Doctors at the hospital declared him brought dead. After the autopsy, the body was handed over to the family members on Tuesday afternoon.

According to the statements by Sagar’s friends, who were travelling with him on the same train, he had come for a court hearing in the city. They were returning to Belagavi aboard the Rani Chennamma Express in an air-conditioned coach, the railway police officer said.

At around 9.15 pm, the train left the KSR (Bengaluru City) Railway Station and reached the Yeshwantpur Railway Station by 9.30 pm. The train was moving towards Tumakuru.

Meanwhile, Sagar informed his friends that he was going to the toilet but never returned. They searched for him on the train, and when they failed to find him, they rang his mobile phone, but there was no response.

Back in Yeshwantpur, the police found the mobile phone beside the body on the tracks, along with other valuables. They checked the call records on Sagar’s phone and called the last dialled numbers and missed calls. Sagar’s friends, who were in the train, on receiving the call, told the police that it was Sagar’s phone and he is, in fact, the son of the former MLA.

Police informed his friends about the incident, and they got down at Tumakuru railway station and returned to Yeshwanthpur. Police suspect Sagar might have slipped while going to the toilet.

Since Sagar had a severe head injury, police suspect, that he may have died on the spot, and are investigating further. They are waiting for the autopsy report to get more details.