No justice in sight, Sandeep Gadoli's body and family raise a stink

A fortnight after Sandeep Gadoli was gunned down in an Andheri hotel neither his body nor his familyrsquos questions about his death have been laid to rest His family refuses to claim his mortal remains until an FIR is registered against the Gurgaon cops who fired at him This has now become a major cause for worry as the dreaded gangsterrsquos body has started to emit a foul smellAlso Read Sandeep Gadolis pistol may have been planted by copsGadolirsquos sisters Jyotsna and Sudesh have been posted outside JJ Hospital every day but wonrsquot claim his body until an FIR is filed against the cops who shot him File picHis elder sister Sudesh Kataria and cousin Jyotsna Gulia remain posted outside the hospital every day but refuse to collect the bodyldquoOnly his body can help us get justice Once we cremate him our fight will go unheard We wonrsquot be able to expose the fake encounter and the Haryana police involved in the coldblooded killing will go scotfreerdquo said JyotsnaRead Story Andheri encounter killing was dubbed Operation Khatma by Haryana copsGadolirsquos mortal remains have been kept at a temperature of 4 degrees centigrade which can preserve bodies for weeks The problem is his body was not embalmed and the presence of other unclaimed decomposing bodies has exposed it to putrefaction as wellA forensic doctor attached to the hospital confirmed the same He explained that the process of decomposition starts with a foul smell discolouration of the body followed by marbling of blood vessels and bloating In the advanced stages an unbearable stench engulfs the corpse and the skin starts to peelldquoThe concern is also because Gadolirsquos body was not embalmed with formalin solution which usually preserves the body from early decomposition We cannot carry out embalming of a dead body unless we are specifically told to do so in writing by the investigating police team and the deceasedrsquos relatives Bodies which are already decomposed cannot be embalmedrdquo added the forensic surgeonHowever this request was not made by the familyinitially since they were confident their plea for justice would be heard ldquoWe were initially allowed to look at the body but after that the mortuary staff stopped us stating that they could allow entry only after police permission So we continue to wait outside the morgue daily and have no clue about the status of the bodyrdquo said SudeshAlso Read Token number 83 is etched in our minds Sandeep Gadolis sisterHer cousin Jyotsna added ldquoWe had almost started the process of completing the formalities to claim the body when Bombay High Court ordered Mumbai Police to register an FIR against the Haryana police but that very moment we learnt that Haryana Police had moved the Supreme Court and managed to get a stay on the FIR The matter is coming up before the HC on Monday and we are hopeful the truth will prevailrdquoPolice Surgeon Dr S M Patil said ldquoA fresh body can be preserved for few weeks without embalming at 4 degrees centigrade temperature but we must first ascertain whether the foul smell is actually coming from the said body or the adjacent bodies In cases where unclaimed decomposed bodies are lying in the mortuary chances of fresh bodies getting affected are morerdquoOther bodiesA mortuary staffer told midday that Gadolirsquos body had been kept along with a few other unclaimed bodies ldquoGadolirsquos body has been kept on a single stretcher in one of the cabinets and there are quite a few unclaimed bodies in the same compartment There are three bodies belonging to beggars who died at JJ Hospital along with an unidentified personrsquos slightly decomposed remains seized by Uran police There is another unclaimed body sent by the Khopoli police as well as a few more unclaimed corpsesrdquo said the sourceWith their quest for an FIR getting delayed Gadolirsquos family had later asked for the embalming process but were rejected ldquoA few days ago we requested a doctor present at the mortuary to get the embalming done but he said we needed to get a copy of the death certificate issued from the MIDC police and only then can the procedure be donerdquo said his sister SudeshHowever according to the police surgeon the assistant police commissioner of the MIDC jurisdiction has magisterial powers and can order the immediate embalming of the body in order to prevent decomposition