PATNA: Patna Range IGP Sanjay Singh on Tuesday (August 4) wrote to Mumbai's Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal requesting to relieve Patna SP Vinay Tiwari from quarantine as it is 'creating obstruction' in Sushant Singh Rajput's death case probe.
An IPS officer from Bihar, Vinay Tiwari, who landed in Mumbai on August 3 for supervising the probe in the case being conducted by Patna police, was quarantined by the BMC under the COVID-19 regulations in force in the metropolis. The IPS officer from the Bihar cadre is heading a team of state police investigating the case.
In the meantime, the Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar today recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into Sushant's death case. In an exclusive interview given to ANI, over the telephone, the Bihar CM said that the late actor's father had earlier in the day held talks with the Director-General of Police (DGP), Bihar and given his consent for a CBI inquiry to be conducted in the case.
"Today morning the DGP held talks with Sushant`s father KK Singh, who had filed the FIR. Today he has given consent for CBI inquiry, so we are recommending for the same. CBI investigation will give better results," CM Nitish told ANI.
He further said that the treatment meted out to the Patna (Central) SP Vinay Tiwari, in Mumbai, where he was put under home quarantine by BMC personnel was not right. He added that fans of the late actor had been demanding a CBI inquiry in the case.
Expressing his displeasure over what he called non-cooperation of Mumbai Police in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey claimed that IPS officer Vinay Tiwari was put under house arrest in Mumbai on the pretext of quarantine. Pandey alleged that the Mumbai Police was not cooperating with Bihar Police in the probe into the alleged suicide case of the Bollywood actor and was 'speaking the language of actress Rhea Chakraborty' who has been blamed by the bereaved family for the death of Rajput.
"Mumbai Police is parroting Rhea Chakraborty's stand. She is saying Bihar Police can`t investigate the case and the Mumbai Police is supporting her contention," Pandey remarked.
"There is a certain respect that is due to an IPS officer. What message does the Mumbai Police want to convey to junior officials? They go like thieves and put an officer under house arrest. A few days ago, one of our officers was shoved and forced to sit in a prisoners` van. I denied all this to the media to save the reputation of the Mumbai Police. But this did happen as all saw the incident."
Last week, Rajput's father Krishna Kumar Singh (74) lodged a complaint in Patna against Rhea Chakraborty and six others, including her family members, for alleged abetment to suicide. He accused Chakraborty, a budding TV and film actor, of having befriended his son in May 2019 with the intention of furthering her own career.
The Patna case was registered under various IPC sections including 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 380 (theft in dwelling house), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 306 (abetment of suicide).
Sushant Rajput starred in films like 'Shuddh Desi Romance', 'Raabta', 'Kedarnath', 'Chhichhore' and 'Sonchiriya'. His most prominent role was that of cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the biopic 'MS Dhoni: The Untold Story'.
Till now, the Mumbai Police have recorded statements of 56 people, including Sushant's sisters, Rhea Chakraborty, Mahesh Bhatt, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Aditya Chopra among others.
