Uttarakhand: A Male Airport Officer Found Dead in Woman’s Clothes
A Pantnagar Airport official was found dead in women's clothing, prompting a police investigation into the mysterious circumstances surrounding his apparent suicide.
In a mysterious turn of events, a Pantnagar Airport official was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his room inside the airport premises on 24th June 2024. His name has been kept hidden for his and his family's privacy and respect.
You might be thinking that while it is sad that he allegedly committed suicide, what is mysterious about it, right? The mysterious thing about it is that the deceased, a man, was found hanging from the ceiling wearing women’s clothes, jewellery, and makeup.
The deceased belonged to Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district and was working as the assistant air traffic control (ATC) manager in Pantnagar. He was married, and his wife is a schoolteacher in Pithoragarh. They have a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter.
Here is what happened:
The deceased lived in a 2 BHK accommodation allotted by the ATC. Two of his male relatives were visiting Pantnagar and were staying with him. All three went out for dinner together on the night of 23rd June 2024 and made plans to visit a nearby mango orchard at 8 am the next day.
After dinner, they returned home. The deceased went to his room and locked it from the inside, while his two relatives went to the other room to sleep.
On the morning of 24th June 2024, the relatives realized that the deceased had not woken up for their trip to the mango orchard. They knocked on his door multiple times but received no response. They even called the deceased’s mobile, but he didn’t answer.
Worried, the relatives informed the deceased’s neighbours, who were also his colleagues. They all collectively broke open the deceased’s bedroom door and were shocked to find him hanging from a noose made of a dupatta tied to the room’s ceiling fan, wearing a maxi dress, bra, panties, bindi, lipstick, and bangles.
The deceased’s relatives and colleagues immediately untangled the noose, brought him down, and rushed him to the nearest hospital, where the doctors declared him "dead on arrival."
The Uttarakhand Police were informed and started the investigation by searching the deceased’s room and house and speaking to his two guest relatives, colleagues, and boss.
The deceased’s colleagues and senior officials called him an "outstanding professional who was never involved in any misconduct." His senior officials revealed that the deceased had requested a transfer to Pithoragarh Airport to be closer to his wife and family. They also said that the deceased appeared happy and content with his married life.
The deceased’s two guest relatives told the police that they were frequent visitors to his home. They informed the police that the deceased used to live freely like a bachelor whenever they visited him. All three used to even sleep in the same room. But, in the last six months, the deceased started asking them to sleep in the other room. After this, the deceased also started locking his room, which he never did before.
The police also spoke to the deceased’s other friends, but none of them had any inkling about his sexual orientation or cross-dressing. It was a surprise for everyone.
The police seized and examined the deceased’s mobile and found that he had searched for strangulation methods on the internet on 16th June 2024.
Pantnagar’s Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manoj Katyal revealed that there was no sign of forced entry into the room nor of any physical assault on the deceased. He said it appears to be a suicide case, but so far, no suicide note has been found at the scene.
The police have sent the deceased’s body for postmortem, are probing why the deceased was in women’s clothes, and have not ruled out it being a murder.
What do you think happened to the deceased? Tell us in the comments.
