Telangana: Nine migrants, six of same family, found dead in well in Warangal

Nine persons, six of the same family, were found dead in a well in Warangal district. Four bodies were found Thursday evening while five bodies were found today morning. The bodies were found in an open well beside a cold storage unit in Gorrekunta village in Geesukonda mandal of Warangal Rural district.

Police said that Maqsood Alam and his wife Nisha who hail from West Bengal migrated to Warangal to work as labourers 20 years ago. They added that the bodies of Alam, his wife, daughter and her three-year-old son, sons Sohail and Shabad, and Shakeel Ahmed hailing from Tripura, and Sriram and Shyam who hail from Bihar were found in the open well.

Police said that Alam and his family used to work in a jute mill nearby where they stitched bags. They used to live in a rented house in Karimabad. But after the lockdown was announced, they requested the owner of the jute mill to allow them to stay at a room in the godown. While they stayed in a room on the ground floor of the godown, the two youths from Bihar stayed on the first floor. Initially, police suspected that the two youths from Bihar may be involved in the disappearance of the family but after their bodies were found today morning, all their deaths turned into a mystery.

"Maqsood's family has been living here for 20 years. Shakeel used to work as a driver at the jute mill while Shyam and Sriram worked in the mill. His daughter is divorced and she also lived with them with their 3-year-old son. There are no injuries on the bodies. If it was a suicide pact, only the family of six would have committed suicide but there are three other bodies. We are investigating several angles,'' ACP Shyam Sundar said.

The owner of the jute mill told police that although the factory was closed, the family as well as the three others had enough dry rations and money and they were under no distress. The owner of the jute mill Sai Datta Traders S Bhaskar also said that he wanted to restart the factory but when he went there on Thursday afternoon the family and the three others were missing. As their mobile phones were switched off, he informed police too. In the evening, he and others who were searching for them in the area saw bodies in the well. Police today drained out the well and found five more bodies. Cops found half eaten food in the room where the family was staying. Their bodies have been sent to MGM Hospital at Warangal for post-mortem.

(Input and image from theindianexpress.com)