The Crime Branch of the Patna unit of the CBI will investigate the suspected death of a tribal police officer of Jharkhand Sub Inspector Rupa Tirkey as the agency has registered a case in this regard on the basis of the order of the single bench of Jharkhand High Court Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi.
Sources in the agency told the OpIndia that P. Gairola, DSP Crime Branch of CBI, will lead the investigation. The CBI team already reached Sahebganj today morning and the team will further visit Ranchi to carry out the investigation. This includes a rerun of the alleged suicide of the officer by hanging at her official quarter under Borio police station of Sahebganj district. As per the police FIR, the lady officer who was posted at Mahila police station of Sahebganj district had committed suicide by hanging on the intervening night of May 2 and 3. The CBI will also examine evidence collected from the crime site.
Jharkhand Police concluded it as a case of suicide and later on converted it as a regular case under section 306 (Abetment of Suicide). The police booked her colleague sub-inspector S.K. Kanaujia and her father Devendra Oraon for abetment of suicide. But the charge sheet was filed only against Kanaujia.
The single bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi of Jharkhand High court had ordered the CBI to investigate while hearing a Criminal Writ Petition 139/2021 filed by Devendra Oraon, father of the deceased who had demanded CBI probe stating that Jharkhand Police and government will derail the investigate as some powerful persons of the Hemant Soren government are involved in the death of his daughter. The family alleged involvement of Pankaj Kumar Mishra and Dahu Yadav. Mishra is a close associate and assembly constituency representative of Jharkhand Chief Minister and Yadav, a local muscleman of Sahebganj district, is close to Mishra.
The suspicious death of this tribal officer coupled with Jharkhand Police messing-up investigation and state government making desperate moves to stop the case to go to CBI shocked common people and civil rights groups.
In the 53 page order, the High Court has mentioned around a dozen concrete reasons for handing this case to the CBI. For instance, the court in the order mentions that after the death was reported Mishra, senior police and district officials were regularly talking to each other. The court further mentioned, “it has been disclosed that one person has approached the family members of Late Rupa Tirkey to provide them a Petrol Pump and forget the case of their daughter.”
The court further noted, “the parents have been offered Petrol Pump by one of the leader of the political party. It is surprising that if it was a case of suicide what was the occasion of offering such things to the parents of the deceased. These all are the questions which raised eyebrow on the role of police as it is alleged that high ups of the State are involved.”
