Ever since Homi Jehangir Bhabha, known as the father of India’s nuclear program, died in an air crash, incidents of abduction, poisoning and murdering of Indian scientists have increased manifold. Many still believe the death of Homi Jehangir Bhabha as a mystery and so is the fate of more than 10 scientists who died mysteriously only after 2009. Our foes or friends in disguise are too lucky to escape without being caught or perhaps our law enforcement is not doing enough to track the criminals and bring them to books. However, the fact remains that more than 10 of our talented scientists have died only after 2009 and we wonder if anybody is caring.
Lokanathan Mahalingam
Image Source : IndiaFacts.Co.In
Lokanathan Mahalingam was working in the Kaiga atomic power station, based in the Indian State of Karnataka, for eight years. India’s television channels reported his death on June 13, 2009. The 47-year old senior scientist went on a morning walk but never returned. His body was found five days later in Kali River. Police confirmed it as a suicide but his family members categorically rejected police claims.
Uma Narasimha Rao
In April 2011, Uma Narasimha Rao, a 63 years old scientist retired from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre committed suicide at her house due to chronic depression. A suicide note was found mentioning clearly that none should be blamed for her extreme step. In a police investigation about her chronic depression, some of her colleagues said it did not ever seem she was under depression. Investigators ruled the death as a suicide but the family members challenged the verdict because she never behaved suicidal.
M. Iyer
Image Source : IndianExpress.Com
M. Iyer, an engineer working with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, was found dead on February 23, 2010 in his residence. No clues or any fingerprints found from the place whatsoever that could help police chase the culprit/s. This led the police to term the death as “unexplained” and the investigation ended in a standstill.
Ravi Mulle
Ravi Mulle is just another name in the list of Indian scientists who died mysteriously. An employee of Nuclear Corporation India Ltd, Ravi went missing and was later declared murdered. Like any other such case, police failed to make breakthroughs and the culprit/s roam scot-free.
Umang Singh and Partha Pratim Bag
Image Source : IndianExpress.Com
On December 30th, 2009, Umang Singh and Partha Pratim Bag, two young researchers, were burnt to death in a mysterious fire in the modular lab of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. Even when there were reports indicating about unavailability of inflammable material in the lab at that time, police failed to solve the mystery.
KK Joshi and Abhish Shivam
Another pair of scientists, KK Joshi and Abhish Shivam, was found dead on the railway tracks in Visakhapatnam in October 2013 with no suspicious marks on their bodies. Both were working as engineers on the indigenous nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant. As per the reports, both did not die of being crushed by train, but no significant development in the case even as of now.
Other names in the list include
Other name in the list of Indian scientists who died mysteriously after 2009 include Mohammad Mustafa, 24, working as a scientist with indigenous nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant, was found dead with his wrists slashed in 2012. Titus Pal, 27, scientist with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre committed suicide in March 2010. Dalia Nayek, 35, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics died of allegedly consuming mercuric chloride in August 20, 2009. V Narayan, 27 years old scientist working with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre committed suicide at Trombay in suburban Mumbai in March 2010.
Indian scientists are dying mysteriously and no one seems to care. It’s high time that government of India provide high security to these officials or else no one will dare to work in any of our nuclear power plants.
