Man found dead in Noida shanty, his face and head battered

Noida: A 45-year-old man was found dead in his home in Sector 135 on Sunday morning. Police said that the body had multiple injuries on the head and face, and an autopsy is underway to determine a cause of death.Rakesh Pal, a native of Badaun, was living in a shanty in floodplain area of Sector 135 along with his wife and his 10-year-old youngest son. He worked as a driver for a resident who lived nearby. Around 9.30am on Sunday, when Pal failed to show up for work and wasn't responding to calls, his employer sent one of Pal's colleagues to check on him.
The colleague soon reached the spot and found Pal lying dead near his bed inside the shanty.The colleague alerted cops through the emergency helpline number 112 and a team from the Expressway police station reached the spot. Pal's elder son, who works as a taxi driver and was driving a passenger that morning, was called and eventually reached the spot as well.Initial investigation revealed that Pal's wife and younger son had left for their native town to celebrate Holi on Saturday, and Pal would have been alone at home at the estimated time of the incident."It is suspected that someone barged into his home on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday and attacked him using a sharp-edged weapon. There is no door at Pal's shanty, and no sign of theft was observed," a police officer said.Cops added that Pal's family members have denied him having a dispute with anyone. The body was sent for post-mortem examination and reports are awaited. Four teams have been formed to investigate the matter.Expressway police station SHO Amit Khari said that an FIR has been registered in the case under Section 103 (murder) of BNS. A search is on for the unknown accused, but there are no CCTV cameras at or near the scene of the crime, hindering the investigation, police officials added.