Row erupts over Bihar cop being quarantined
MUMBAI/PATNA:THE Sushant Singh Rajput case turned into a fullfledged inter-state fight on Monday with civic authorities in Mumbai quarantining a senior Bihar Police officer at the helm of a probe into the actor’s suspected suicide on June 14. In its defence, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said the step was taken in accordance with the state government’s guidelines to stop the spread of Covid-19 and that it has guided Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Vinay Tiwari, Patna City’s superintendent of police, to file an exemption.
Bihar Police alleged that Tiwari was “forcibly quarantined”, a move chief minister Nitish Kumar termed as “inappropriate”. On Sunday, when Tiwari reached Mumbai to investigate the case, Bihar’s director general of police (DGP) Gupteshwar Pandey alleged BMC forced Tiwari into quarantine and that he had been denied accommodation and was made to stay at a guest house in Goregaon.
Bihar CM voiced strong disapproval of Tiwari being put in quarantine. “Whatever has been done to him is inappropriate,” Kumar said.
When asked about whether he would have a word with Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Kumar said: “It is not a political matter. The issue at hand is a legal obligation of the Bihar Police. We will make all possible efforts to fulfil the same.”
However, BMC in its statement said the team that had approached Tiwari on Sunday was acting on standard state government guidelines and that he has since been advised on how to apply for an exemption from quarantine. “The team explained to him the entire procedure applicable to a domestic air traveller, including home quarantine, which is fixed by the state government notification dated May 25, 2020. He has also been guided to apply to the competent authority of MCGM [Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai] for exemption in the home quarantine period as per the state government notification,” read BMC’S statement.
BMC’S public relations department confirmed late on Monday that Tiwari had not applied to the civic ward office for exemption from quarantine.
The civic body, however, did not comment on why four officers who had come to Mumbai from Bihar on July 27, in connection with the same case, had not been quarantined.