Uttarakhand: Independent Journalist's postmortem reveals internal chest, abdominal injuries; SIT formed to probe death

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], September 30 : Internal chest and abdominal injuries were the cause of the death of Independent journalist Rajeev Pratap Singh, who went missing in Uttarkashi on September 18, Uttarakhand Police said on Tuesday.
Journalist Rajeev Pratap Singh, who went missing in Uttarkashi on September 18, was found dead on September 28 in the Joshiyara Barrage in Uttarkashi district.
"In Uttarkashi, on 19th September, information was received about the disappearance of Rajeev Pratap Singh since the night of 18 September. As soon as the information was received, Uttarkashi Police launched a search operation to trace him. Some clues were obtained from CCTV footage of Uttarkashi market and surrounding areas, where he was last seen. Following these clues, the search process continued. NDRF and SDRF teams also joined this search operation... On the 20th Sept, the vehicle that was last seen being driven by Rajeev Pratap Singh in the CCTV footage was found in a damaged condition in the Bhagirathi River." DGP Deepam Seth said.
"Following suspicions of kidnapping raised by his family, an FIR was registered, and the investigation continued. On the 28th, a body was recovered by the NDRF, SDRF, and local police teams, which was later identified as Rajeev Pratap Singh. A postmortem has been conducted, and the report has been received by the police. For further investigation, a team has been formed under the leadership of Deputy SP Uttarkashi. This team will thoroughly review all the evidence collected so far... The team will include all aspects in its investigation and will submit its report promptly," DGP, Uttarakhand said.
Uttarkashi Superintendent of Police ( SP) Sarita Dobral also presented the sequence of the incident and asserted that the investigation is currently underway.

"Rajiv Pratap's family informed the police station about Rajiv's disappearance on 19. After that, we monitored the CCTV footage, after which we realised that on the night of the 18th, Rajiv Pratap was with his friends, and he went towards Gangori in his friend's car. The footage we received at 11:39 shows him driving the car alone. We found his car at the site of the incident, which was 500m away, the next day. After that, we had been searching for him continuously...On 28, his dead body was found in Joshiyara Barrage...According to the postmortem reports, the death was due to internal chest and abdominal injuries...The family members also provided some additional facts, which we are verifying, and the investigation is currently underway," Uttarkashi SP Dobral said.
Officials said that a special team under Deputy SP Uttarkashi had been tasked with reviewing evidence to verify family claims of kidnapping and ensuring that all aspects of the case were examined before submitting its report.