Man, 65, mistakes metro station duct for toilet, falls to death

The body of a 65-year-old man was found in a highly decomposed state on Friday in the duct of the Yelachenahalli metro station.

Kumaraswamy Layout police said although Nagaraj, a real-estate broker from Maruthi Nagar, had succumbed to his injury after having fallen inside the duct on April 4, his death came to light only on Friday when the housekeeping staff noticed the foul smell emanating from the duct while cleaning a nearby area on the ground floor. When they opened the door to the duct, they discovered the body.

CCTV footage showed that Nagaraj came to the metro station on the evening of April 4. He entered the escalator with another person at the same time. The metro staff stopped him from boarding the train since he did not have a metro card. Though police initially assumed the person with Nagaraj was his friend, the footage revealed they were strangers.

While leaving, Nagaraj was holding his groin but appeared stable enough to walk. He went up to the duct near the escalator, opened the unlocked door and stepped in from the first floor. He fell to the ground floor and suffered injuries to his head and other parts of the body.

Nagaraj’s family, including his wife, said he was an alcoholic and diabetic. He urinated once or twice an hour. He must have, therefore, assumed the duct to be a toilet and stepped into it.

A case of unnatural death has been registered based on the family’s statement and the evidence found on the CCTV feed, police.

While the death raised questions about negligence by security guards, at least two staffers from the BMRCL alleged the station controller is being made a scapegoat.

"Apart from security guards hired from agencies, the BMRCL has a separate rung of security personnel to manage station's security. In this case, they have been left out while the station controller is being made a scapegoat," an employee said.

Responding to the death, a BMRCL official said they would wait for the investigation to conclude before commenting on the issue.