Uttarakhand: Airport Official Found Hanging In Room Dressed As A Woman

A Pantnagar Airport official, dressed in woman's clothes, was found hanging in his room inside the airport premises in Uttarakhand's Udham Singh Nagar district, police said on Tuesday. The official was wearing a maxi, women's undergarments, bindi, lipstick and bangles. The deceased, Ashish Chausali, was found hanging on June 24 from the ceiling fan. He was rushed to the hospital but the doctors declared him dead on arrival. 

As per the reports, the official was staying with two other relatives who slept in another room. The trio spent the previous night having dinner together and went out before returning to the apartment. They made plans to visit a mango orchard in the neighbourhood the next morning at 8 am. However, the official didn't wake up despite calls from his relatives. So the relatives informed his colleagues and together broke the door open to find Chausali hanging. 

A police investigation has begun

Chausali hailed from the Pithoragarh district and worked as assistant manager (air traffic control) at the airport. His wife is a school teacher in Pithoragarh and the couple has a two-and-a-half year-old daughter, the police said. 

The preliminary investigation has revealed that the official was "hanging from a noose made from a dupatta tied to the ceiling fan... We're probing why he was in women's attire," said a police officer investigating the case. 

Statements from police officials

SSP (Udham Singh Nagar) Manjunath TC told Times Of India, "Relatives and colleagues forced open the official's bedroom door to find him hanging...There was no sign of forced entry in the room, which was locked from inside. There were no signs of physical assault either."

SP (city) Manoj Katyal said that the police are questioning the relatives and colleagues of the deceased official. Prima facie the case looks like a suicide but no note has been found. 

He further added, "We have also seized his mobile phone to examine his call details and other data to conduct a cyber forensic probe. His seniors and colleagues termed him an 'outstanding professional who was never involved in any misconduct'. The reasons behind his death would be ascertained after we receive the postmortem report. We're not ruling out anything."