Family blames post-Cov brain fogging for Kol bizman death

Kolkata: Investigations into the death of 66-year-old city businessman

Shrawan Kumar Birla

, whose body was fished out of the Hooghly on Sunday evening hours after he went missing, have revealed that he did not have a history of depression or anxiety, but had seemed listless ever since he recovered from

Covid

.

Hastings police — along with West Port cops who initiated inquest proceedings and autopsy since the body was recovered in their jurisdiction — spoke to family members of the deceased on Monday.

“The family members were unanimous about him not being himself since he had Covid. The only thing they could blame for his death was

brain fogging

,” said an investigating officer. The initial autopsy report has confirmed death by drowning, which sort of backs up the suicide theory of police.

Birla, a resident of Karaya Road in Ballygunge, had left home in his car around 5am on Sunday. The car was found abandoned on the Howrah-bound flank of Vidyasagar Setu 30 minutes later by a traffic cop. The driver’s door was open and the ignition key still inside.

Sources close to the

businessman

told cops that Birla was an avid cyclist and morning walker who rarely used his car at that time of the day. Also, he had not informed anyone before leaving home. When he did not return till late afternoon, a search was launched and the body found in the river around 6.30pm.