Kin of Bhojpuri singer fear foul play after body found in flat
PATNA: The death of renowned Bhojpuri singer Brajkishore Dubey, 68, a Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee, has left his friends and family baffled.
According to police, the folk singer was found dead in mysterious conditions on Monday at a flat in Ananta colony of Bihar’s capital Patna, which is said to belong to one of his close friends. His body was recovered from the bathroom of this flat and his feet was found tied with the legs of a chair while his head was deep down in a bucket full of water. A suicide note was also recovered from the spot.
Dubey’s family members, however, have strongly dismissed the suicide theory.
“Recently, he had visited Mumbai and started working on some new projects. He was not in any kind of depression, as is being claimed by many after his death,” said Manindra Mishra, son-in-law of Dubey.
“His feet was tied to the chair three times over,” Mishra said, expressing fears of a foul play.
Dubey’s daughter Manisha Kumar said she couldn’t think of a reason that could have driven him to suicide. “He couldn’t have ended his life this way as he
deeply loved his family. His death needs to be investigated,” she said.
Manisha said the family didn’t know much about Dubey’s friends and associates. “He used to keep us away from his work and friends in Patna and in Mumbai. Even on the day of the incident on Monday, my family was not aware of his location. That morning, I tried to contact him, but he didn’t respond. A few hours later, his mobile phone got switched off. Alarmed at the situation, I contacted my mother and got to know that he had been away since Sunday,” she said. “He had told my mother Ramkumari Devi not to wait for him that evening as he would be away for some work,” the daughter said. “Since he often used to stay away for work, my family didn’t bother when he didn’t got back home on Sunday night. But I was alarmed as he didn’t even notice my mobile messages. When I tried to locate him, I had no idea whom to contact as I hardly knew any of his friends. But there was one person in his contact whom I knew. He confirmed that my father was at his flat while he was at the ongoing Sonepur fair,” she said. “When we family reached the flat, we found it main door open. We later found his body in the bathroom,” Manisha said, adding that autopsy and forensic reports were still awaited.
She said Dubey will be cremated at Varanasi.
Subdivisional police officer (SDPO) Sanjay Kumar said while autopsy and forensic reports were still awaited, it prima facie seemed a case of suicide. “A suicide note has been recovered from the site. The deceased is learnt to have been in depression,” he said. “If the family has any doubts, they must submit a written report, demanding
investigation from another angle also,” the officer said.
Dubey, a folk singer and lyricist from Rohtas, had written lyrics for many Bhojpuri blockbusters, including Shatrughan Sinha-starrer ‘Bihari Babu’. He had remained associated with the Bhojpuri Academy of the state government and had won the Sangeet Natak Akademi award and was also given Bindhyavasini Devi award.