After Ahmedabad crime branch officials lodged a complaint on Thursday against deputy superintendent of police NP Patel in sub-inspector Devendrasinh Rathod's suicide case, Patel has gone underground.
Rathod had committed suicide by shooting himself with a service revolver at his residence in the Chandlodia area on the afternoon of December 31. He had left behind a suicide note alleging that due to constant pressure and harassment by Dy SP Patel, he had taken the extreme step.
Rathod's father Satyandrasinh Thakur lodged a case against the Dy SP, alleging that due to the mental and physical torture perpetrated by Patel, his son had committed suicide. Apart from that, an allegation was made that the Dy SP had been asking for sexual favours from Rathod and even forced him into complying. Regarding the matter, a complaint was lodged under IPC 306 and IPC 377 against the Dy SP.
After the Dy SP found out that a complaint had been lodged against him, he went underground. Currently, he is absconding and was neither present at his office at Karai Acadamy nor at his house.
Initially, the Sola police did not show the suicide note to Rathod's family members and refused to lodge a complaint only on the basis of the suicide note. The family members had a meeting with Ahmedabad Police Commissioner regarding the matter, and later, they started a protest outside the Civil Asarwa hospital.
The family members demanded that police authorities take action against the Dy SP and that he be dismissed from duty. They refused to accept Rathod's body if no action was taken against the Dy SP.
Two days after the suicide, Rathod's wife alleged that Dy SP NP Patel had been asking for sexual favours from Rathod and forced him into complying.
On the third-day, looking at the seriousness of the case, DGP Jha handed over the investigation to the Ahmedabad crime branch. An SIT was formed by the crime branch to investigate the case.
For three days, Rathod's body had been in the hospital's cold room. It was only after the case was lodged on Thursday afternoon, that Rathod's family agreed to take his body. On Friday morning, Rathod's body was accepted by his family from the Civil hospital and later, his last rituals were done at the Vadaj Crematorium.