The CBI on Thursday deputed a joint director-level officer to probe the allegations of torture by former director general corporate affairs B.K.
The CBI on Thursday deputed a joint director-level officer to probe the allegations of torture by former director general corporate affairs B.K. Bansal, who committed suicide, along with his son, here on Tuesday.
In the suicide notes, purportedly written by Bansal, he alleged that a CBI director inspector general, two women officers and a “fat” havaldar of the agency tortured his wife and daughter, following which they committed suicide in July.
Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday sent a notice to the CBI and asked it to file an action-taken report in three days over the contents of purported suicide notes of the tainted top official, and his son, Yogesh.
Bansal and his son hanged themselves on September 27, two months after the bureaucrat’s wife Satyabala and daughter Neha committed suicide.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the commission expressed “deep anguish and shock” and said it has taken suo motu cognisance of media reports that “mental and physical torture” by some CBI officers during a probe in a corruption case led Bansal and his family to commit suicide.
“The commission has issued the notice to the CBI director, asking to share the copy of the suicide notes with it, and sought an action-taken report on the allegations levelled in 72 hours, including the names of the delinquent public servants,” the statement said. “He has also been asked to give the names of the havildar/ head constable, whose name is not mentioned in the suicide notes,” it said.
Taking serious view of the alleged illegalities and human rights violation by the CBI, the commission observed that the police is supposed to investigate offences as per law and in a “human rights-friendly way”. “They can’t be allowed to resort to physical assault, mental torture of an alleged offender or his family. The CBI is supposed to be a protector and defender of human rights,” the NHRC said.
“So, we fully endorses the statement made by Bansal in the suicide note so much so that even if he was at fault in the case, why were his wife and daughter pushed to suicide,” the NHRC said.
Meanwhile, a team of the Delhi Police visited Bansal’s flat in Neelkanth Apartments, East Delhi, on Wednesday. Cops also took the CCTV footage of the apartment. “A team of cops surveyed the flat as part of the investigation. On the day of the incident, a forensic team also visited the flat,” said a senior police official.
