Communications manager of Prashant Kishor's party found dead near rail tracks in Ranchi

Ranchi: The body of a digital communications manager of Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj Party was found near the railway tracks in Ranchi on Tuesday, a day after he went missing from a moving train, police said.

Angara police station officer-in-charge Gautam Kumar Rajwar said preliminary investigation suggests that Devpalik Gupta (31) fell off the moving train accidentally and died.

His body was found near the railway tracks in Jarwadih village on the Ranchi-Muri line, he told PTI.


Read more: Prashant Kishor jolts BJP, ends three-decade hold in Bankipur; Congress retains Datia seat

"The body will be sent to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi for post-mortem. A case of unnatural death will be registered based on statements from the deceased's family," Rajwar added.

The Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) condoled Gupta's death, describing it as "heart-wrenching".

"Devpalik Gupta had been leading JSP's social media team for the last four years. He was extremely talented and bore a simple demeanour. Gupta's demise is heart-wrenching and an irreparable loss for us. This is an extremely painful moment for the Jan Suraaj family. We are all aggrieved," it said.

Read more: Backrooms to Bankipur: The making of Prashant Kishor the politician

Gupta had led JSP's social media campaign during its win in the Bankipur assembly bypoll earlier this year, giving Prashant Kishor a win on his electoral debut and the party its lone MLA in the assembly.

Gautam Kumar, a friend and colleague of Gupta, told PTI that they boarded the Ranchi-Patna Janshatabdi Express at the Ranchi railway station on Monday afternoon and the train departed around 2:25 pm.

Ten minutes later, Devpalik told them he was going to the pantry car to get something to eat, but he did not return, Kumar told PTI.

"Thereafter, we left our berth and went to the pantry car next to our coach, but we did not find him. Then we checked every coach, but he was nowhere on the train," he said. When the train stopped at Muri Junction, they lodged a complaint with the Government Railway Police, prompting a search.

Gupta, a native of Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar district, was an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi.