Recounting the sequence of events leading to the death of Santosh K. Patil, the Mangaluru police said he had arrived in Udupi from Belagavi along with his friends Santosh Medappa and Prashant Shetty on Monday evening.
They took two rooms in Shambhavi lodge at Udupi. While his friends were in one room, Patil was in the other. The police said he had not joined his friends for dinner or a post-dinner stroll.
The police said that Mr. Shetty came to know about Patil being reported as “missing” from the house through the news channels on Tuesday and then had gone knocking on his door to inquire. When there was no response, the door was forced open and Patil was found dead. The death was due to suspected consumption of poisonous substance.
Udupi Superintendent of Police N. Vishnuvardhan told reporters that the room in which Patil’s body was found had been sealed. It will be opened in the presence of his family members. Mr. Vishnuvardhan said further action in the case will be taken in presence of the family members.
