How did Prateek Yadav die? What the autopsy report reveals

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav’s son and the Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav’s half-brother, Prateek Yadav, died in Lucknow on Wednesday (May 13) due to heart and lung collapse.

The autopsy report from Lucknow's King George's Medical University revealed that the 38-year-old fitness enthusiast died of "cardiorespiratory collapse due to massive pulmonary thromboembolism."

He was pronounced dead by doctors after being brought to the Civil Hospital around 6 am yesterday. "We ran the necessary SOPs, and after confirmation, we informed senior officials and police," Dr GC Gupta, Civil Hospital director, confirmed to PTI that Prateek was brought dead to the facility.

According to News18 reports, he was admitted to a private hospital in Lucknow on April 30 in a critical condition; however, his health improved after three days.

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What more autopsy report revealed

The report findings noted that the immediate cause of his death was a massive blockage in the pulmonary arteries caused by thromboembolic material.

A pulmonary embolism is a blood clot that blocks blood flow in a pulmonary artery. In several cases, a blood clot forms in a deep vein of the leg and then travels to the lungs.

In simple words, doctors noted that a large blood clot had blocked blood flow to the lungs, causing Prateek's heart and breathing to fail.

The report added, according to NDTV, "The whole heart and pulmonary thromboembolic material were preserved in formalin for histopathological examination, and the viscera are preserved for chemical analysis."

There were six injuries on Prateek's body, autopsy mentions, however, they are not suspected to have directly caused the death.

The older injuries consisted of bruises on the chest, right arm, and right forearm, with one forearm bruise running from the elbow to the wrist. The recent injuries included bruises on the right forearm, right elbow, and left wrist.

Indian Express quoted a senior doctor on condition of anonymity: "As per the opinion of the team of doctors that conducted the post-mortem, a few injuries are suspected to be 5-7 days old while some are a day old, but one should not jump to any conclusion as none of these has been found to be the cause of death."

He further stated that the viscera samples have been preserved and that additional examination can only provide more details.

Who was Prateek Yadav?

Born in 1988, Prateek was a fitness enthusiast who owned a gym in Lucknow called “The Fitness Planet." On social media, he always posted about his gym routine and fitness.

He also operated an animal welfare organisation called “Jeev Ashray”, which worked on the rescue, treatment and care of stray dogs. Prateek was always vocal about animal welfare.

Despite being associated with a political family, he was never inclined toward joining politics. Several people within the party once pushed in November 2012 for Prateek to be given a ticket to contest from Azamgarh in the 2014 general election, but it never happened.

He tied the knot to Aparna Bisht (now Aparna Yadav) in 2011. She is an active member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Prateek announced his separation from his wife on January 19; however, they reconciled within a few days. Prateek had married Aparna in December 2011. Their relationship started in 2001, when they first met at a birthday party.

Leaders expressed grief over the sudden demise of Mulayam Yadav’s younger son. The SP supremo called it “Extremely heartbreaking.”

“The demise of Shri Pratik Yadav ji is extremely heartbreaking! May God grant peace to the departed soul. Humble tribute!" Yadav wrote on X.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other leaders also condoled the Yadav's family over Prateek's death.

With inputs from agencies