More than two weeks after he died under mysterious circumstances in a Telangana village, the body of Vangara Nagaraju was exhumed on Monday, and a post-mortem was conducted.
Nagaraju was a clinical trial volunteer, and had dropped dead with a swollen hand, after allegedly returning home from one such study in Bengaluru's Lotus Labs.
His family has since alleged that it was a botched trial that killed him.
The Jammikunta police, along with forensic experts from Warangal's Kakatiya Medical College (KMC) arrived at the spot where Nagaraju had been buried and exhumed the body.
The post-mortem was conducted by the experts in a nearby tent that was set up for the purpose.
Nagaraju is survived by his wife and three sons, two of whom are doing coolie work and the youngest is pursuing his bachelor’s degree.
What was even more shocking to the family, was that they learnt of the clinical trials only after Nagaraju's death.
Following this, Nagaraju's family travelled to Bengaluru and approached the lab in question.
"The lab assured us of the payment that he had to receive for the entire trial, which was Rs 19,000 and also said that it would reimburse our travel cost to Bengaluru. But they are not answering properly and being unclear when we asked if we would get other compensation like insurance, for my father's death," Jagdish, Nagaraju's son, had earlier told TNM.
(Nagaraju's family breaks down, as his body is exhumed)
Police case
On June 16, Nagaraju's son Vangara Srinivas lodged a complaint with the Jammikunta police. Following this, the police registered a case under section 174 CrPC, which deals with suspicious death.
The police had visited the village along with local doctors from a government hospital on June 17. However, they realised that the exhumation could only be authorised and performed by forensic experts.
"We wrote to the KMC immediately, following which the experts came and we performed the exhumation and autopsy of the body," the Inspector of Jammikunta police station told TNM.
"They have preserved some internal organs of the deceased, which will be forwarded to the Forensic Science Labaratory (FSL) after examination. A chemical analysis will also be conducted at the KMC. We expect the results to come in four weeks," the police officer added.
The police now plans to contact the laboratory in Bengaluru, and all other parties involved, and has assured a speedy investigation.