Garhwa SP told to reopen 4-month-old death case

Daltonganj: Deputy inspector general (DIG) of police, Palamu, Praveen Singh has directed Garhwa SP Michael Raj to seek permission from the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) for reopening the death case of Urmila Devi of Chhatakund West in Bhavnathpur block who had set herself afire on April 20.
Singh said this case deserves to be re-opened for further investigation as the police had earlier messed up the case."Prima facie it appears that police have allowed a prime accused to go scot-free whereas a youth studying in Intermediate class has been put behind bars. Because of this the entire investigation of the offence appears a travesty of justice," he said, adding, "The Garhwa SP was directed in the past for a re-supervision of this case which he did not do. But he said he did and sent his report to my office on September 20."
Urmila, who lived in Bhavnathpur with her husband Jitender Prasad and father-in-law Vijay Kant Sahu, was severely burnt and brought to Nagar Untari hospital for treatment. A police officer of Nagar Untari recorded her statement. "This statement was her last and thus it became her dying declaration. She died the same day," Singh said.
The dying declaration was later converted into an FIR. Urmila had accused her father-in-law for forcing her to take such an extreme step. "The Bhavnathpur police worked on many points to save the father-in-law," Singh said. tnn
When the charge sheet for this case was filed the father-in-law was exonerated from all charges while a student of Intermediate class Vikas Kumar was hauled up by the police citing the reason that Urmila would speak to this boy often as her husband is a person who has learning difficulties.