Missing for 5 days, medical store owner found dead inside cement drainage pipe sealed with soil

In Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district, the body of Ankit Patel (27), a medical store owner who had been missing for five days, was recovered late Tuesday night. The body was found one kilometre from his village Haraiypur, hidden inside a cement pipe installed for drainage on the under-construction Ganga Expressway. The pipe was sealed from both ends with soil, and a foul smell alerted locals, who informed police.

Ankit Patel had been running a medical store in Gausganj under Mallawan police station in Hardoi. He used to travel daily from his village by motorcycle. On the night of 23 May, he went missing. When he did not return home by the next morning and his phone remained switched off, his younger brother Atul Patel lodged a missing person complaint.

Family members and police had been searching for Ankit. On 25 May, his motorcycle was found near a canal in Shadipur village, approximately 15 kilometres from his residence. The number plates on the bike were broken. On 27 May, a number plate and four liquor bottles were recovered from a bush near Saraiya village, about five kilometres from Haraiypur.

Following the discovery of a foul smell near a cement pipe in the same area, police officers including SHO Munna Kumar and CO Arvind Chaurasia arrived at the site. Soil was removed from both ends of the pipe, and a human finger was visible. Upon attempting to pull the finger, it detached. Two constables entered the pipe and removed the decomposed body of Ankit Patel.

Relatives including his father Ramjeevan, mother Rammoorti, and sister Shalini were present during the recovery and broke down upon identifying the body. Local MLA Shrikant Katiyar also visited the location. According to police, the body was several days old and in an advanced state of decomposition.

CO Arvind Chaurasia said, “Due to the decomposed condition of the body, the cause of death is not immediately clear. Postmortem will confirm the method of killing. It is suspected that the involvement of someone known to the deceased cannot be ruled out.” Police teams are analysing mobile call records and surveillance footage. CCTV footage from a liquor shop in Chakhanuman showed no activity after 9 PM on 23 May. The investigation is ongoing.