Australian tourist's body cremated

PATNA:The body of Australian tourist Osborne Michael David (52) was cremated here onMonday in the presence of policemen and an Australian embassy representativecalled Robin Smith. David was cremated because his family had asked for theashes."As per the wishes of his family, David's ashes will be sentto Australia. Since, his relatives could not come to India to attend the lastrites, police have done job for them in Robin Smith's presence," said PatnaSenior SP R Mallar Vizhi.The Australian tourist was found dead atMaa Guest House at Khagaul located on the outskirts of Patna on May 31. Policebroke open the room only to find him dead.The cops had also foundsome empty bottles of liquor, ganja (cannabis), medicine and sleeping pills inhis room. The post mortem conducted by a medical board here revealed that thedeath was caused by heavy consumption of liquor and drugs. Since then his bodywas preserved at the PMCH morgue.The death, which bore many elementsof mysteries, had baffled police, too. They are still trying to find out why theAusssie, who had earlier checked in a cosy hotel here, moved into a dingy guesthouse at Khagaul, or what forced him sell off some of his costlybelongings.It is still a mystery as to why David came to stay atKhagaul and the people he met here during his nocturnal wanderings in the town.Who were the people who supplied cannabis and liquor to him during his stay atthe hotel from May 19 to 30? If he was on a tourist visa, what attracted him toprolong his stay in Patna? These are the issues which the police need to answerbefore closing the case.It may be recalled that the guesthousemanager Jackie was sent to jail for not informing the local police about aforeigner's stay at the guest house.