Even as the tragic suicide of DSP Vishnupriya escalates into a political storm in Chennai, her father M Ravi and fellow police officer Maheshwari, say that the Namakkal SP, SR Senthil Kumar, must be investigated and questioned.
Ravi and Maheshwari had earlier alleged that it was due to pressure from senior police officers over the Gokulraj murder case that the DSP committed suicide. The family has asked for a CBI probe into the case.
Speaking to News7, Vishnupriya’s mother Kalaiselvi said that it was because she was asked to wrongly book three accused in the Gokulraj case under the Goondas Act that she committed suicide.
My question is why was she not allowed to investigate the case properly? Why was there pressure from her superior officers to slap the Goondas Act on the accused? Was it to satisfy senior police officers up the chain? An audio conversation between Yuvaraj and DSP Vishnupriya which is with the Namakkal SP. In that Yuvaraj says that he is willing to surrender in her presence. Why is the SP not releasing that audio?
—Maheshwari, Vishnupriya’ s mother to The News Minute
Yuvaraj is the main accused in the Gokulraj case and president of the caste-outfit Dheeran Chinnamalai Peravai. He is absconding from the police.
M Ravi echoes Maheswari’s thought and says that the investigation must start with the Namakkal SP.
He has to be suspended, only then will the investigation be proper. He should not be in office. What happened between 3 pm and 5 pm, only he knows.
— Ravi, Vishnupriya’ s father to TNM
Suicide Linked to Gokulraj Murder?
Amidst this, Yuvaraj is said to have released a statement, blaming senior police officers for her suicide.
In his statement, which is being circulated on messaging platforms, Yuvaraj claims that Vishnupriya was forced to arrest his friends, which is why she came under pressure. He has claimed that he has hard proof of the fact that police officials were responsible for Vishnupriya’s death. Empathising with the death of the ‘honest’ police officer, he says senior police officers including DIG Salem Vidya Kulkarni, Namakkal SP SR Senthil Kumar and two other DSPs were the cause of her death.
While allegations of pressure from senior officers are flying thick and fast, what is not clear is why exactly she was under pressure. Were senior officers trying to side with Yuvaraj and save him, or were they asking her to ramp up the pressure on friends and family of Yuvaraj to get him to surrender?
Maheshwari and Ravi say that they do not know why she was being put under pressure and if senior police officers were trying to protect Yuvaraj.
However, what stands against all the allegations is Vishnupriya’s letter, which specifically says that her suicide has nothing to do with the Gokulraj case. Many believe that she could have succumbed to the general pressures of a cop’s job. Sources in the police department say that she was subjected to humiliation and censure from her senior officers. What could throw more light on the truth is the exact status of the investigation into the Gokulraj murder case.
Namakkal SP Senthil Kumar did not respond to calls or text messages.
(Ramanathan S works with The News Minute.)
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