It is over one year since the nude bodies of a couple in their forties were found in the bathroom of their Ghatkopar residence. However, the Mumbai police has been unable to unravel the mystery surrounding the deaths. Even the cause of death is not known. The bodies were found on March 8, 2023, which was Holiday.
Deepak Shah (44) and his wife Tina (39) returned their home in Kukreja Palace, Vallabhbaug Lane, Ghatkopar (E). A few hours later, the maid came to work and rang the doorbell. Since there was no response she called a relative of Deepak who had a duplicate key to the apartment.
The door was opened but there was no sign of the Shahs. They found the bathroom door was locked and they broke it open only to discover the two naked bodies with vomit all over. The Pant Nagar police was informed and bodies were sent for post mortem. There were no external injuries.
Residents of Kukreja Palace said Shah ran a garmemt business. A day before the deaths (March 7), the couple were invited to a Holi party in Juhu. On March 8, in the morning, the couple left home to attend the event. Eyewitnesses informed the police that they both seemed happy. The couple later left the party and reached home post-noon. The watchman of the building and the CCTV camera on the building premises confirm they entered their apartment.
Postmortem report
In the postmortem report, the medicos ruled out suffocation as the cause of death. After suffocation, the second suspected cause was poisoning.
Later, along with the PM report, the couple’s stomach wash, viscera, and vomit samples were sent to the Forensic Laboratory at Kalina for an in-depth examination. In the examination report, the Forensics lab ruled out poisoning, further puzzling the investigating team
The postmortem report, along with the forensics report was once again sent to Rajawadi hospital in November 2023 – to sum up the findings and declare the cause of death. Officials at Rajawadi Hospital have not submitted their report yet. The police told FPJ that they can proceed in the case only if the scientific cause of death is known.
Meanwhile, during the investigation, the police found that on the same day, March 8, another couple, located in Ghaziabad, were suffocated to death in their bathroom due to gas leakage from the geyser. This couple, like the Shahs, had returned home post-Holi celebrations and went to take a bath together. After a couple of hours, the couple’s bodies were found.
“In the Ghaziabad case, the geyser was on quite long, and in such cases, they emit carbon monoxide, which is odourless and colourless, and fatal. One may not notice it, but the damage begins within the individual’s body. In our case, the bathroom’s windows were shut, and there were no ventilators, so it’s possible that they choked up with carbon monoxide. But we cannot conclusively say that without the medical report,” said a police officer said.
