Residents of Basaveshwara Nagar started panicking on Thursday morning after finding a body in a playground. Shopkeepers near Ambedkar playground initially thought the man was sleeping on a bench and tried to wake him up.
As word spread, it triggered fears that he may have contracted COVID-19. The police reached the spot and a call was placed for an ambulance. However, in the backdrop of a rise in the number of cases, an ambulance arrived over six hours later.
By then, the police had identified the deceased as Paramesh, 38. “He was a chronic alcoholic who worked in a private factory. He had walked out of his home two years ago and had since then been living alone,” said the police.
As the news spread, his brothers claimed the body. It was shifted to Victoria hospital for an autopsy and a COVID-19 test.
