The alleged suicide case of ex-serviceman Ram Kishan Grewal which triggered a political row has been handed over to the Crime Branch of Delhi Police, considering “the sensitivity of the matter”.
Police said they are probing the sequence of events that took place before the ex-servicemen committed suicide. Sleuths are also probing the role of an employee of an NGO in Bhiwani whom Grewal and his associates had met before coming to Delhi.
Joint Commissioner of Police Crime Branch Ravindra Yadav confirmed the development and said the Crime Branch has initiated inquest proceedings in the case.
The ex-serviceman from Haryana’s Bhiwani district consumed poison in the lawns behind Jawahar Bhavan, which houses some offices of the Ministry of External Affairs, on November 1.
Meanwhile, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was on Thursday prevented from marching to India Gate to protest the suicide of an ex-serviceman, allegedly over OROP, a day after he was detained twice while trying to meet the family of the deceased soldier.
Rahul Gandhi was leading a candlelight march organised by the Delhi Congress unit from Jantar Mantar to India Gate when police personnel restrained him and whisked him away on a van. He was, according to police, later dropped at a place on Feroze Shah Road, Police said.
The Congress leader, however, claimed in a tweet, “Was detained by the Delhi Police and taken away from Jantar Mantar.” “Police vehicle was stopped at 5, Feroze Shah Road, enroute to Tughlak Road PS,” he tweeted.
“I have only one thing to say that the way the family was treated was wrong and it may affect the morale of the Army. The police should at least apologise to the family,” he told reporters.
A police official said the action was taken keeping Rahul’s security in mind as the crowd at Jantar Mantar was swelling by the minute. Rahul was detained twice on Wednesday when he went to meet the family of Ram Kishan Grewal, who committed suicide over the “non-implementation” of OROP.
Grewal’s suicide had on Wednesday snowballed into a huge political showdown in the Capital. “The case has been transferred from New Delhi district to Crime Branch keeping in mind the sensitivity of the matter. District police, especially the New Delhi district police, is usually busy with law and order duties. The New Delhi district is a sensitive area since it houses the residences of MPs and important landmarks,” said another senior police officer.
Earlier, high drama had followed at the morgue of lady Hardinge Medical College as Grewal’s son Jaswant was not willing to give the consent for the post mortem examination.
Rule says that autopsy cannot be conducted unless the nearest kin of the deceased persons gives it in writing. Jaswant finally agreed for the post mortem around 7 Pm on Wednesday and the forensic experts conducted it. The body was then transported to Grewal’s village in Bhiwani district under Delhi Police protection, a police official said.