Nagpur: A Deputy Controller of Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), Nishant Mridul (44) reportedly leapt from the terrace of the seven-storey office building at CGO Complex in Seminary Hills, Nagpur, on Monday under mysterious circumstances. He’s battling for life at a private hospital here with doctors saying his condition remains critical, but he’s not brain dead.
An MTech, Mridul, worked in a section that granted approvals to specialised equipment used in petroleum sector, said a media report.
PESO is the apex regulatory body for explosives and petroleum industry in India and is headquartered in Nagpur.
Doctors said, he was brought in a poor neurological state and chances of his survival are slim. “Mridul suffered injuries in the pelvis, femur bone, and head. A diffuse axonal injury in the brain affected the nerves. We were struggling to stabilise his blood pressure, which dropped dramatically, and we had to administer multiple blood transfusions,” a doctor said.
The police have not yet registered a case and are awaiting his recovery. Mridul’s mobile phone which he left on the terrace parapet wall before jumping has been seized. Those at the CGO complex suggest Mridul may have got entangled in a wire before hitting the ground, which mitigated the impact. Wires spanning the 5th floor have snapped. “Since he is alive, we are waiting for him to regain consciousness and will question him once he is able to communicate,” said a senior officer at Gittikhadan Police Station.
It is pertinent to recall that in January this year, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had raided the residence of an official from the Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organisation (PESO) in Nagpur in an alleged case of bribery and recovered Rs 5.86 lakh unaccounted cash. With this raid conducted, the total cash seized in the bribery case so far was around Rs 2.22 crore. The CBI had apprehended Ashok Kumar Dalela and Vivek Kumar, Deputy Chief Controllers of Explosives at PESO, for allegedly accepting bribes.
The probe agency had also arrested Priyadarshan Dinkar Deshpande, a resident of Nagpur, and Devi Singh Kachhawaha, the director of Super Shivshakti Chemical located in Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan.
