September 17, 40 years ago: In a Mumbai hospital, a mysterious corpse in water tank

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on September 17, 1986.

2 min readSep 17, 2026 06:40 AM IST First published on: Sep 17, 2026 at 06:40 AM IST

BSF to continue combing

The Centre has directed the Border Security Force (BSF) to continue its operations against intruders from Pakistan and to shoot them if they do not respond when challenged. The fresh directions were issued to remove doubts about the role of the BSF guarding the Indo-Pak border in Punjab following the killing of ten Sikh youths who intruded in the Dera Baba Nanak sector of Gurdaspur district on August 30. The youths “failed” to make their intentions clear when a BSF patrol challenged them.

Shiv Sena leader, Nihang shot

Terrorists in Punjab after lying low for a brief period struck again, killing two persons, including a Hindu Shiv Sena leader, and injuring at least five others in separate incidents. Vijay Mohan alias Kala, vice-chairman of the Phillaur unit of the Shiv Sena, was fatally wounded by scooter-borne terrorists in the morning. A call for a bandh in Phillaur has been given by the Punjab Shiv Sena president, Rama Kant Jalota, to protest against the killing.

Decomposed flesh in hospital tank

Highly decomposed flesh and bones were fished out of a potable water tank of the King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital in Bombay. Hospital employees said that it was difficult to say whether the flesh was of an animal or a human baby. The police said that prima facie it looked like animal flesh, but added that expert opinion was awaited. The flesh and bones have been sent to the police surgeon for analysis.

Army to help control floods

Troops were called out in Pharenda and Maharajganj tehsils of Gorakhpur district in Uttar Pradesh and east and west Champaran districts of Bihar, to help the civil authorities control the worsening flood situation. According to reports received in New Delhi, scores of villages in Pharenda and Maharajganj tehsils of Gorakhpur district were submerged by floodwaters even as the flood situation in other parts of Uttar Pradesh showed considerable improvement.