A pall of gloom and suspicion has descended on the town after the body of a 19-year-old youth, identified as Daksh, was found under mysterious circumstances near the medical college here.While police have suggested that substance abuse may have caused the death, the victim’s family has alleged that he was murdered and his body was dumped. The family has refused to perform the last rites until the case is properly investigated.According to the victim’s father, Rajesh Kumar, and a friend, Daksh, who ran a stall selling rakhis, went missing from his shop around 6 pm the previous evening. The family searched for him throughout the night and made inquiries among his friends, but there was no trace of him. Late at night, a phone call alerted them that a body matching his description had been found near the Government Medical College. On reaching the spot, they found Daksh’s body lying in a badly damaged condition.The father said the police were attributing the death to drug use, but insisted the family had never seen their son consume drugs. He alleged that someone had killed Daksh and dumped his body at the site, and demanded a thorough investigation to identify and book those responsible. He warned that the family would not perform the last rites until justice was served.The SHO of the City-2 police station, Akalpreet Singh, said the police had received information from the local medical hospital the previous day, after which a team reached the spot and found the youth’s body. He said preliminary information suggested the deceased occasionally used drugs, which could have led to his death. However, he added that if the family had any suspicion of foul play, they were free to record their statement, based on which further action would be taken. He said the exact cause of death would be ascertained only after the postmortem report is received, after which further legal proceedings would be initiated.