Tripura DGP Anurag Dhankar’s death was suicidal in nature: Manik Saha
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Friday, August 28, told the state Assembly that the death of Director General of Police (DGP) Anurag Dhankar was “suicidal in nature”, according to the post-mortem report.
Saha made the statement after Leader of Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury raised the issue in the House and demanded an inquiry by a sitting judge of the Tripura High Court into Dhankar’s death.
Dhankar, a 1994-batch IPS officer of the Tripura cadre, was found dead inside his office at the police headquarters on July 20.
The issue led to a heated exchange in the Assembly after Speaker Rampada Jamatia tried to stop Chaudhury from raising the matter. CPI(M) MLAs then entered the well of the House and raised slogans, disrupting the proceedings for several minutes.
Amid the disruption, Chief Minister Saha stood up and said he was ready to make a statement on the matter.
“The post-mortem report indicates that the DGP died by hanging and that the death was suicidal in nature. The report is now part of the evidence in the case. An impartial investigation is underway,” Saha said.
The Tripura government has already formed a high-level committee, headed by West Tripura district Superintendent of Police Namit Pathak, to conduct a detailed investigation into the DGP’s unnatural death.
Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman also joined the discussion and argued that the post-mortem report was an important piece of evidence and should not be disclosed in the Assembly.
Saha rejected the argument, saying that the Chief Minister or a minister can make a suo motu statement in the Assembly about an investigation into a high-profile case.
He said the findings of a post-mortem report or other details of a case could be shared or tabled in the Assembly in the interest of the public.
Saha also said that the government had demonstrated its commitment to transparency by making a suo motu statement on the death of the senior police officer.
