CBI fails to answer magistrate court’s queries on cop’s death

Coimbatore: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which had conducted an investigation into the death of deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Vishnupriya, on Wednesday failed to respond to the queries raised by the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) court. The court will deliver the verdict on the petition filed by Vishnupriya’s father next Thursday.
The court wanted to know the content of the telephonic conversations Vishnupriya had with the Namakkal superintendent of police and advocate Malathiya on the day she committed suicide.

Vishnupriya was investigating the murder of Gokulraj, a native of Omalur in Salem district. The 23-year-old man’s beheaded body was found near a railway track in Thiruchengode sub-division in Namakkal district on June 24, 2015. She was found hanging at her residence in Thiruchengode on September 18, 2015. According to her father, she took the extreme step as she was harassed by her superiors.

The state government launched a CB-CID inquiry into her death. Her father M Ravi filed a petition before the apex court, seeking CBI inquiry. The case was taken over by CBI from CB-CID. In the final report submitted in May 2018, CBI said it was a suicide and ruled out the involvement of senior officers.

However, Ravi filed a petition before the CJM court on October 25, 2018 and requested the court to conduct the inquiry again with Maheswari, assistant commissioner, Chennai, Chandrakala, police inspector, Iniko Thivyan, DSP, Thiruvarur, retired DSP Muthamizhselvan, ADSP Xavier Francis Beski and DSP Kalaiselvi.

The prosecution counsel claimed that CBI did not find any conversation between Vishnupriya and the SP before she took the extreme step. She had attempted to commit suicide twice and had said in the suicide note that she took the decision on her own. Former Namakkal SP had no links with the case, it said.

But chief judicial magistrate Nagaraj wanted to know about the contradiction in the affidavit of priest Vijayaragavan. The counsel could not give an answer.

The defence counsel argued that CBI failed to question the seven officials properly.

The court then adjourned the case to December 13. TNN