Lucknow: Three businessmen from Sitapur were found dead inside a car that was pulled out of a pond in Panchpir village under Kamalapur police station limits early Tuesday.
The deceased were identified as Rakesh Chaurasia (50), Satish Nirmal (40), and Ramendra Singh (62), all residents of the Sidhauli area and members of the local business community. The case came to light around 1.30 am on Tuesday when villagers noticed part of a vehicle floating in the pond and alerted police. Police launched a search, examining CCTV footage along the Bahraich-Sidhauli route and tracking the last known location of their mobile phones.
Officials said all angles are being investigated. Police recovered their bodies after an overnight operation involving the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and a crane. Rescue teams reached the spot and pulled out the submerged car. Two bodies were found on the front seats and one on the rear seat. Documents recovered from the vehicle helped establish their identities. Investigators found footage showing the Alto heading towards Sidhauli but disappearing before reaching home. Mobile phone data later placed them near Khurd village. Police have sent the bodies for post-mortem examinations and are analysing CCTV footage and other evidence to determine the exact circumstances that led to the accident.
On Monday afternoon, the families lodged a missing-person complaint.
The trio left Sidhauli around 5 pm on Sunday and reached Bahraich later in the evening. Though Mohan had suffered only minor injuries, Rakesh decided to visit him. His friends, Satish and Ramendra, accompanied him in Satish’s Maruti Alto. Meanwhile, Mohan returned home separately and informed family members that his father would come back later after finishing some work. When the three men failed to return and their phones became unreachable, relatives grew concerned.
Rakesh had received information on Sunday afternoon that his son Mohan had met with a road accident in Bahraich, according to family members.