Officer, kin in trouble for renting out home to murder suspects
POLICE ALSO ARRESTED TWO SUSPECTS, AVINASH KUMAR AND SHASHI PASWAN FROM JHARIA, AFTER INTELLIGENCE INPUTS
Jharkhand police’s special investigating team (SIT) probing the high-profile murder of Dhanbad ex-deputy mayor Neeraj Singh on Friday picked up a retired government officer’s family for renting out their house to four men, who disappeared soon after the incident that claimed four lives.
Police suspect the four men, whose whereabouts and antecedents are not clear, could be the possible killers. Eyewitnesses said that four men on two motorcycles had carried out the crime on Tuesday.
Police also arrested two suspects, Avinash Kumar and Shashi Paswan from Jharia, after intelligence inputs. Aditya Raj, who worked as private security guard of the slain ex-deputy mayor, was also being grilled.
“We are extracting details from the Roy family of Kusum Vihar about the four men who recently shifted to their house on rent and have gone missing after the murders,” Nirsa police inspector Parmeshwar Prasad, who is also the investigating office of the case, said.
He said expert artists have been summoned from Ranchi to prepare sketches on the appearance of the four assailants.
Earlier on Friday, on Dhanbad senior superintendent of police (SSP) MR Chothe’s directive, police picked up Roy, his wife, two daughters and their maid. RA Roy, former deputy director of Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research ( CIMFR), Digwadih campus, had personally approached the police with a petition, informing them about the sudden disappearance of his tenants.
A police team went to his home, broke open the locked doors where the four men stayed, and seized belongings.
During interrogation, Roy said he had rented his house to Munna, resident of Samastipur in Bihar, on the recommendation of one of his acquaintances from his native village.
“Few days back, I saw three other men joining Munna in the house. They claimed to be residents of Gaya and Chapra districts of Bihar.
All were in their early 30s and well built. They claimed that they were executives of a private company operating in Dhanbad and Bokaro,” Roy told police.
The investigating team also visited different shops having CCTV cameras for video footages in Saraidhela area where the shootout occurred. However, they could not get any substantial clue from them.
Meanwhile, opposition Congress has stepped up its demand for CBI probe in the case.
“Only a CBI probe will unravel the murder mystery and bring the actual culprits to book,” said state Congress secretary, Aditya Vikram Jaiswal, suspecting that innocents might become a scapegoat.
“I was on a personal visit to Chokhi Dhani when I observed during a cultural performance that some of the girls who were dancing looked very young. Later, I saw a group of tourists were dancing around such a girl and the men were showering rupee notes over her while touching, pulling and caressing her,” Maliwal told HT.
The DCW chief said that when she enquired about the age of the girl she found out that she was only 13.
“The girl told me she is 13 and also that she doesn’t go to school. I also observed that many of the men were heavily drunk as they were coming to the cultural performance after drinking in the bar. The men were also speaking inappropriately about the girls,” said Maliwal.
The DCW chief told HT that many of the men were middleaged.
“We have lodged an FIR under various sections of the Protection cies to enforce such a measure.
“SpiceJet supports a no-fly list to bar unruly flyers who are a safety hazard for not just the crew but even the traveling public,” SpiceJet chief Ajay Singh said. “The government needs to act on this soon. An attack on our employees and crew is an attack on us and we strongly condemn such incidents.”
IndiGo, which is often at loggerheads with Air India, also came out in support of a ‘no-fly’ list. “There should be one such list so that unruly passengers are barred from flying,” the airline’s spokesperson said.
However, despite the outrage, no FIR was lodged more than 24 hours after the assault as Delhi of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and the Juvenile Justice Act against the Chokhi Dhani administration. Further investigation is on the in the matter,” said Dharamveer Singh, station house officer, Sanganer Sadar police station.
Maliwal said that the Rajasthan police didn’t reply to her letter even 10 days after she sent it.
“The police didn’t communicate to me about any of the developments. We will be writing another letter to them requesting them to revert with information of action taken,” she told HT.
The Chokhi Dhani administration denied the charges.
“The allegations are absolutely untrue as no minor girls are employed by us. We are ready for any investigation or inspection as we are sure that it will establish that the allegations are not true,” Mahendra Singh, area manager, Chokhi Dhani, said. Police was waiting for legal opinion in the matter.
Sources said the medical examination was the reason behind the delay in filing an FIR as it didn’t suggest any injury. Police say sections under the IPC could be decided only after the nature of injury was proved.
Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena asked Gaekwad to “watch his behaviour”. “The party is serious about the incident. We have asked him for an explanation and have also asked the airlines to investigate thoroughly. The party’s disciplinary committee will look into it and there will be no leniency in this case,” Sena leader Anil Desai said.
(WITH AGENCY INPUTS)