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29 March 2024

5th richest Indian in Oman falls to death from Mumbai high-rise under mysterious circumstances

Puniakant Philip Raju (Supplied)

Published
By VM Sathish

One of the top five richest Indians in Oman Puniakant Philip Raju, former CEO of Lama Polyclinics, has been found dead under mysterious circumstances in Mumbai, India.

The 63-year-old Raju reportedly fell from 27th floor of an under construction building in which he had booked a flat. His family members have demanded an investigation into his death, which they suspect was a murder.

A postmortem was conducted on the body and police launched an investigation following a family request.

When Puniakant Philip Raju fell, his body hit 3rd floor of the building, and fell on the ground, according to media reports from Mumbai. The CCTV footage of the building was obtained by the police in whom Raju was seen going in and out of the building thrice before his fatal death.

Footage showed another man also leaving and coming back to the under-construction building three times.

Body parts were scattered and Puniakant Philip Raju’s body was identified with the help of a paper found in his pocket with his name written on it.

The 32-storey building is under construction in Oshiwara area of Mumbai.

According to media reports, Puniakant Philip Raju wanted to buy two flats in the high-rise building and was negotiating a deal with a real estate sales agent.

The family alleged that he had booked a flat in the building and had gone there several times earlier but on Sunday he went alone to the high-rise building. He was supposed to return to Muscat on Monday but family members saw no reason for him to commit suicide.

Police are now trying to find out the reason behind Raju’s death.

The watchman of the building who heard a big sound found the man lying in a pool of blood and alerted others and police about it.

A senior Police Officer from the Oshiwara Police Station, Mumbai, was quoted as saying that it is not yet sure whether he fell from the building accidentally or somebody pushed him down or he committed suicide.

Mumbai Police were trying to ascertain whether the Indian businessman was accompanied by anyone else or the real estate agent with whom he was negotiating a flat deal.

Raju was ranked fifth richest Indian in Oman and was had business interests in real estate and healthcare. Raju had resigned from his post a few months ago.

He had also ventured in to producing a Bollywood movie, which did not materialize, according to friends in Muscat. It is also reported that the richest Indian, who used to drive very posh cars, was recently facing a few cases of cheque bouncing in Oman, and was bailed out by his local sponsor, who works in a leading bank in Oman.

While family members ruled out the possibility of suicide, few Indian media reported it as a suicide case.

However, family members alleged that it could be a case of a planned murder and his wife, Dr Molly Philip, working in the Lahma Polyclinic, is in Mumbai to oversee the funeral. The Raju family lives in Kalina, Mumbai and their two children are studying abroad.