Scientist's body found in PUSA, siblings lived with it for days

A body of a retired scientist was recovered, in a decomposed state, from his makeshift residential quarters in West Delhi's Inderpuri area on Thursday. The scientist's siblings, a brother and sister, who are mentally unsound had been living in the same house with the corpse for more than a week.

Dr Yashvir Sood and his family never interacted much with their neighbours but on Thursday one of their neighbours Govind observed an unusual odour emanating from Sood's house. However, Sood's sister Kamla denied him entry into the house.

Govind then informed the field officer of PUSA Institute, Sonu Kumar, after which Kumar called the police. However, his sister Kamla resisted and the cops only managed to recover the decomposed body of the retired scientist after much struggle. Even though the police officers suspect no foul play, the matter is being probed.

Retired in 2015, Dr Sood was the principal scientist of NRL (Nuclear Research Laboratory) PUSA Institute in Rajendra Nagar police station of West Delhi and was living in PUSA campus since his birth. However, it was only a year ago that he was shifted to his present quarters with his younger sister Kamla and brother Harish.

In the initial stages of the investigation, a senior scientist reported that Dr Sood was an alcoholic and was in a state of depression even before his retirement. According to regulations, a retired government employee is not eligible to get accommodation in government quarters, but the then director of the institute had provided accommodation to the family on the campus itself.