BHOPAL: An engineering student from Bhopal was found cut in two on the railway tracks in nearby Raisen on Sunday evening. Police suspect suicide but what makes the incident suspicious is the message the father of the deceased Nishank Rathore received from his phone just before his death: “Rathore Sahab Apka Beta Bohot Bahadur Tha… Gustakh e-Nabi Ki Ek Hi Saza, Sar Tan Se Juda.”
After an exhaustive investigation, which involved checking train timings, CCTV footage and a preliminary autopsy, police believe Nishant died by suicide.
However, his father, Umashankar Rathore, a government employee, doesn’t believe Nishank would kill himself.
The 21-year-old was in his fifth semester at an engineering college in Bhopal. He belonged to Seoni-Malwa tehsil in Narmadapuram, around 120 km from Bhopal, and had come to the Madhya Pradesh capital for his BE degree.
On Sunday, Nishank rented a scooter in Bhopal and was driving towards Narmadapuram, but seems to have changed his mind and was driving back to the city, police said after reviewing CCTV footage. His body was found near Midghat railway station in Raisen district, exactly halfway between Bhopal and Seoni-Malwa, just after 6pm.
Minutes before his death, his father received the chilling message. “Around 5.44pm, I received the message on WhatsApp from Nishank’s number. It was not a forwarded message but a typed one,” Rathore, who is posted as an auditor in the cooperative department in Harda district, told TOI.