Autopsy reveals Himanshu Roy's cancer may have spread

Himanshu Roy's body being taken for cremation last night. Pic/Atul Kamble

Forensic surgeons at Grant Medical College and GT Hospital who carried out Himanshu Roy's autopsy told mid-day that they found a suspected secondary cancer that had impacted the only kidney Roy was surviving on (his first cancerous kidney was removed in 2000), and that the disease had spread to the pelvic area. They added that the bullet entered via the oral cavity, and exited from the back of the skull.

Samples from the infected areas have been collected to ascertain whether or not the mass is malignant and its stage. The entire procedure was captured on camera, and the same will be handed over to the investigating team.

The autopsy team even collected samples of the hand-wash procedure, which are crucial for ballistic examination. Ballistic experts will examine them to check for carbon residue left on the deceased's palms after pressing the trigger, to ascertain if it was indeed Roy who fired the shot. "We have to examine the distance from which the weapon was fired and if the bullet belongs to the weapon it was fired from," said an expert.

Another expert informed that the autopsy procedure started around 6 pm and continued until 8 pm. Around 8.30 pm, the body was handed over to family members, and last rites were performed at Chandanwadi crematorium late in the night. According to forensic experts, the autopsy team concluded that death was spontaneous and due to haemorrhagic shock.

Unlike the regular practice of conducting autopsies in firearm death cases at JJ post-mortem centre, two junior forensic surgeons from Grant Medical College were sent to GT hospital for assisting in the procedure.

Insiders from State Forensic Science Laboratory, Kalina, said a police officer visited the laboratory and took a team of ballistic experts from the lab to the crime scene. "Prima facie, it seems the weapon was a .38-mm revolver. Ballistic experts have managed to find the bullet remains from the flat," the officer said.

Also Read: Himanshu Roy Death: A Gym Session, His Favourite Breakfast, And A Simple Suicide Note

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