Indian's death: Brother to fly to US to identify body

The elder brother of Ranchi-based Pratyush Ranjan, who died in a reported train accident in the United States, will fly to Chicago tomorrow to identify the body, family sources said today.

"The Ranchi Regional Passport Office informed us on May 5 they had got information that Pratyush had died in a train accident and his body was recovered on April 3 in Chicago," a close relative of Ranjan told PTI here.

"We are told Chicago police had lodged FIR stating Ranjan was killed in a train accident. They said he was identified by the I-card they found from his pocket.

"But unless a blood relation (of the victim) confirms that the body was actually his, we can’t say much. Only after that we can issue a statement from our side," he added.

Ranjan, who had set out for Chicago from Nebraska on April 2, had spoken to his younger brother on that day, the relative said.

Twenty-nine-year-old Ranjan, who graduated from St Xavier’s College, Ranchi in 2005, was doing PhD in economics from University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

Ranjan is the son of PK Karn, former principal of Netarhat Residential School.