The mystery surrounding the death of Anurag Tewari, a Karnataka cadre IAS officer in Uttar Pradesh, has taken a new turn.
On Monday, the Hazratganj police registered a murder case against unidentified persons under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.
The case was registered after Anurag’s elder brother, Mayank Tewari met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adithyanath. He also met investigating officers of the Special Investigation Team, and narrated his version of events before Anurag arrived in Uttar Pradesh.
It was based on his complaint that the Hazratganj police filed a murder case.
Anurag was last seen at a restaurant with his batch mate, IAS officer and Vice Chairman of Lucknow Development Authority, PN Singh.
He was found dead on the roadside near the guesthouse he was staying in Uttar Pradesh’s Hazratganj on May 17.
However, media reports say that PN Singh has been missing since the day Anurag’s body was found and police are now looking out for him.
The post-mortem report also states that Anurag Tewari died at around 2 am but his body was found hours after that.
In his complaint, Mayank Tewari writes, “He was under tremendous pressure and had told me two months back that his life was under threat. He was under immense pressure from his superiors. He told me that he was working on a file which could expose a major scam. He was also being pressurised to sign some papers, which he did not want to,” his complaint reads.
Two IAS officers from Karnataka, Abhiram Shankar and Pankaj Kumar Pandey were sent to Lucknow on May 18 to gather details about Anurag’s death.
The team had met with Anurag’s family members and had also gathered information from the Special Investigation Team. The officers, who returned to Bengaluru on Monday, were told by the Karnataka government to not reveal any information to the media.
Reacting to this move, Home Minister, Dr G Parameshwara said that the Karnataka government was offering its full support to the investigation.
“The BJP is ruling in Uttar Pradesh and their officers have not been able to carry out a proper investigation. Ask the Modi government why such an incident occurred in Uttar Pradesh,” Parameshwara told media persons.
Although the postmortem report states that he died of asphyxiation, doctors have not mentioned what caused the suffocation.
These unanswered questions have led the police to now file a murder case, media reports say.