GEORGE TOWN, June 14 — A man’s body was found lying in a drain near the Botanical Gardens waterfall at Jalan Kebun Bunga here today.
The victim, S. Govindaraju, 51, had been reported missing for two days and his family had lodged a police report over his disappearance.
Bagan Jermal Fire and Rescue Station Operations officer Jermal Wan Chik Ariffin Mohd Ismail said the station had received a call from the public over the discovery of a fully-clothed man’s body at 6.10pm.
“The fire department rushed to the scene and lifted the body out before handing it over to the police to be sent to the Penang Hospital for an autopsy,” he said in a statement here today.
Meanwhile, Northeast District Police Chief ACP Soffian Santong said based on preliminary investigations, the man who worked as a shop assistant was believed to have been dead for over 24 hours before his body was discovered.
Soffian said according to family members of the victim, the man had been acting strange of late, and often spoke to himself as if he was possessed, besides having fits frequently over the past one week.
“The last time the family was with the man was on Friday, when they took him for traditional treatment, and he seemed to be better after the treatment, before he left the house alone at 10.30 pm,” he said, adding that the family lodged a police report when the man did not return home.
According to Soffian, the police found no trace of injury on the victim’s body nor elements of foul play at the scene of the incident.
“Police are investigating the case as sudden death, and a postmortem will be conducted tomorrow to find out the true cause of death,” he said. — Bernama
