A man's rotten body was reportedly found in the tunnel of the Delhi Metro airport line on February 9 and police suspect that the body had been lying there for at least four to five months.
The decomposed body, which was spotted by the metro employees between the New Delhi and Shivaji Stadium stations, has now been reduced to just bones and neither the police nor the employees know how it might have gotten there. The cause of the death is also yet to be ascertained.
"The station controller of the New Delhi Metro station went inside the tunnel for routine maintenance around 1.30am on February 9. The body was found around 300 metres from the platform of the station. The track inspection is a routine affair but how the staff missed the body for months is a mystery," an officer of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) told Hindustan Times on condition of anonymity.
Speaking of the incident, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said that the area in which the body was found is not close to the tracks and is, in fact, an emergency shaft. "The area is in an emergency shaft of a cross-passage, which opens at the ground level and is not in a regular operational area. Access to this area is through the ground level, which is cordoned off and thus detection was difficult," the spokesperson explained.
The Delhi Police and the CISF have been investigating the matter and the forensic team too was called in. The CCTV footages have been studied, but no clues have reportedly been found as the footages are not stored for more than 30 days.
"It is difficult to find from where the man entered. We have preserved the DNA samples and are checking if anyone from the area near the New Delhi station is missing. Once the body is identified, the cause of death can be established," added another police officer. A case is yet to be filed.
Concerns about a security breach
The incident has now raised serious concerns about a security breach as neither the tracks nor the tunnels are accessible to passengers. The airport line is covered with platform screen doors, which open only when the train is at the platform.
