Kin: ‘Murdered’ IAS officer spoke of corruption often

The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday handed over the murder case of the Karnataka cadre IAS officer Anurag Tiwari to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

His elder brothers Alok and Mayank Tiwari spoke to this newspaper from Bahraich in UP and said that the family was convinced that Anurag was murdered.

“Anurag used to often talk about corruption in public administration and his frustration. He was an ardent follower of Vivekananda. He would tell us that if he opened his mouth many officers and politicians would land up in jail, but we didn’t make much of it because corruption is rampant in the country,” said Alok.

“He didn’t name anyone in particular. We knew that as an IAS officer he had to deal with many issues and take tough decisions. He was a very honest officer and never misused his office. He neither borrowed any money nor did he acquire any material assets for himself. In the last two months he had started speaking about quitting his service and doing things which were dear to him. He was mulling on going on a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar and doing a Ph.D,” he explained.

“On May 16 he called up our mother and told her that he wanted to quit his service. We didn’t know that it would be his last conversation. That night he went out with his colleague P.N. Singh for dinner at 9 pm and returned to the guest house. It was very unusual for Anurag to have such an early dinner. He used to stay up late at night and had dinner very late. Why did he have dinner so early that night? Was he being identified by someone, who killed him the next morning? The police and the CBI should do justice to him,” Alok said.

Anurag’s post mortem report, a copy of which is with DC, has stated asphyxia as the cause of death, but the forensic experts have not been able to establish the cause of asphyxia and have put a question mark against the cause.

“The heart, blood sample and viscera have been preserved for further investigation by the CBI. They may refer it to a forensic team in All India Institute of Medical Sciences,” said an official source from UP.

Meanwhile the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Uttar Pradesh Police 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 vicechairman, Lucknow Development Authority for over three hours and recorded his statement, a senior official told PTI.

Mr 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 Lucknow 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.