The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Uttar Pradesh Police today sent to Delhi the viscera of Karnataka cadre IAS officer Anurag Tiwari as the reason behind his death continued to baffle the probe team.
The SIT also questioned Anurag's friend Prabhu Narain Singh, who is currently posted as Vice Chairman, Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) for over three hours and recorded his statement, a senior official told PTI here.
Singh was sharing the room with his IAS batchmate Anurag in the government Meera Bai Marg guest house, outside which his body was found on May 17 morning, sending shock waves across the state capital as the spot is close to the high- security UP Assembly complex.
The post-mortem examination report said that it appeared to be death caused by asphyxia. His viscera, blood samples and heart were, however, preserved to find the exact cause of the death.
With Anurag's family members crying foul over his death, suspecting that he has been murdered, the state government yesterday decided to hand over the case to the CBI.
Anurag's family told Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that they suspected foul play as he was about to expose a "big scam" in a Karnataka government department.
The UP police has registered a murder case in the matter, five days after Anurag's body was found on his birthday under mysterious circumstances.
Anurag's family had alleged that he was murdered at the behest of corrupt officers as he was a whistleblower and was about to expose a "scam" in the department of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs in Bengaluru where he was posted as commissioner.
Mayank, the deceased's brother, alleged that the scene of crime had been washed and the officer's mobile phone was found in an unlocked condition.
In his police complaint, Mayank said his brother was an "honest officer" and was transferred seven to eight times in his decade-long career.
He also claimed that Anurag had told them that there was a threat to his life.
Mayanak said "my brother was a late riser and never went for morning walk", countering what police had suggested in the case.
"During discussions, he told me that he was working on some files which can expose a big scam," Mayank said.
He said Anurag was pressured to sign some papers against his wish.
"That is why some unidentified people were exerting pressure on him. He was under tremendous pressure in the last few months and he also informed us around two months back that he is facing threat to his life.
"I request you (police) to investigate the mysterious death of my brother on May 17," Mayank said in the complaint on which the FIR was lodged.
He had written to the Prime Minister's Office too seeking a CBI inquiry into his brother's death.
In his letter, he claimed that Anurag had stumbled upon a major scam about which he wanted to inform the PMO and the CBI.
He also alleged that there was pressure on Anurag to withdraw the report which could have nailed senior officers and ministers, had it come in public domain.
Sushila Devi, his mother, made a fervent appeal to the prime minister and chief minister seeking justice for her son.
The UP police had constituted the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on May 18 to probe the death.
The issue took a political colour after opposition members raised the matter vociferously in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly to question the law and order situation under the BJP government.
The Assembly premises are hardly a kilometre from the spot where Anurag's body was found.
However, an Uttar Pradesh Minister said in the House that the officer was about to expose a major scam under the Congress government in Karnataka.
Tiwari, a 2007-batch IAS officer, was staying at the Meera Bai guest house with a batch mate after attending a mid-career training programme at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie.
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