Rohit Jaiswal's death: Kateya SHO axed for ‘misbehaviour’

PATNA: The station house officer (SHO) of Kateya police station in Gopalganj district, Ashwini Kumar Tiwari, was suspended and departmental proceedings were initiated against him on the directive of DGP Gupteshwar Pandey.
The action was taken after DGP’s visit to Gopalganj on Saturday to probe into the mysterious death of 15-year-old Rohit Jaiswal. His body was recovered from Pakahan river on March 29. The DGP himself entered the river in the presence of senior officers to ascertain the truth behind the incident, which took communal overtones after a video quoting the victim’s family went viral on social media, alleging that they were being forced to vacate the village. The victim’s family alleged that they were being threatened with dire consequences and pressurised to reach a compromise with the accused.
Gopalganj SP Manoj Kumar Tiwari on Sunday said the Kateya SHO had allegedly misbehaved with the relatives of Rohit during inquiry into the case. The SP categorically denied any communal angle and said those trying to spread rumours in the area will face legal action.
Rohit, a resident of Belhi Dih village, had gone missing on March 28. While leaving home, Rohit had told his family that he was going to play cricket with his friends. When he didn’t return home late in the evening, the family started searching him. His body was recovered from the river the next morning.
Rohit’s father Rajesh Jaiswal, who runs a grocery shop at the village, lodged an FIR against six suspects, including four minors, accusing them of killing his son and dumping his body into the river about 3km away from his village.
Five of the accused had been arrested. Later, four juveniles were released on bail while the fifth accused is still in jail. The sixth accused is absconding.
The DGP met the victim’s relatives. “Don’t be frightened and inform me immediately if anybody tries to harass you or influence the investigation,” a close relative of Rohit quoted DGP as saying.
Later, the DGP told mediapersons that CID was assisting the district police in the investigation. An investigating officer said no external injury was found on the victim’s body. The postmortem report also didn’t confirm the use of any lethal weapon in the crime.