Dead IPS Officer’s Mother Urges PM to Order CBI Probe

The Cyberabad police, investigating the death of 30-year-old trainee IPS officer Manu Mukt Manav who drowned in a swimming pool under suspicious circumstances at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, failed to ferret out the truth, the victim’s family members said in their memorandum to the Prime Minister. Four days after the death of the officer, his 55-year-old mother Kanta Bhardwaj shot off a letter to Prime minisiter, Home Minister and CBI Director to for a thorough probe into the incident. Bhardwaj told Express: “I have been told that the NPA has ordered an internal inquiry and an FIR has been lodged at a local police station. However, I do not trust these investigations. They will not be fair.” Express collected a copy of the letter sent by Bhardwaj. She said in the letter that on August 28, she  received a phone call from NRK Reddy, joint director, NPA, at approximately 1.45 am, informing her that her son had died around 11.30 pm by drowning in a swimming pool on the premises of the (NPA). “To save their skin, the officials may not only tamper with facts, but also influence investigation. I have also heard several contradictory accounts of what happened on the night my son died and I do not know whom to believe. Therefore, I request you to order the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to immediately conduct an independent investigation into the death of an able officer of the Indian Police Service, who was soon to start his career,” Kanta Bhardwaj pleaded with the Prime Minister. Manu Mukt was her only son and his tragic death has devastated the family. “It is not only my loss but also that of the Indian civil services, Himachal Pradesh cadre, your government and the country. While nothing can make up for what I have lost, an honest investigation into what transpired on the night of August 28 will go a long way in giving me some satisfaction. My intention is not to make allegations against anyone, but I want the truth to come out,” she added. The death of an officer should be taken seriously and Manu Mukt deserves justice, she said. Meanwhile, the NPA officials are likely to hand over the postmortem report to Manu Mukt’s family members on September 5.

By Moule Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com

Manu’s Kin Cry Foul as NPA Claims Officer was Drunk

Did poolside party claim the life of 30-year-old trainee IPS officer Manu Mukt Manav at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy? An internal inquiry headed by a senior officer of the NPA has more or less come to the conclusion that Manav, who was in a state of inebriation on that fateful night, slipped and fell in the swimming pool and drowned. Three days after Manu Mukt Manav’s death at the NPA, his family members wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking a thorough probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). “Even though Manu Mukt’s friends and other trainees noticed him falling into the swimming pool, they could not find him because it was very dark. It took 20 minutes to find him in the pool,” the other trainee officers who attended the party that night reportedly told the inquiry team. The investigating officers are likely to submit their report to the NPA director shortly. Meanwhile, Manu Mukt Manav’s father Ram Niwas Manav, a retired professor, told Express over phone from Hisar in Haryana on Sunday that Manu Mukt was a teetotaller and that he did not even have the habit of drinking tea. Mukt was a professional swimmer and he had a membership in Punjab swimming pool. “A day before Mukt’s death, I spoke to him. The next day, I received a call from NPA officials that Mukt was not well and was shifted to hospital. I suspected something went wrong, but the officials did not tell me the truth,” said Ram Niwas. He wrote to Prime Minister and Union Home Minister seeking a CBI probe into the incident to ferret out the truth. The final rites of Mukt were performed by his father at Hisar. “It was very painful to perform the final rites to my son who was a trainee IPS officer. I am a retired man and wanted to spend time peacefully. But I have lost my son. It is very difficult to come to terms with reality,” Ram Niwas said. Mukt’s sister S Anukriti, who is working as an assistant professor, Department of Economics, Boston College in USA, was shocked upon learning of her brother’s death. “There is something fishy. I don’t know what happened at the party at the poolside. But,  NPA officials are responsible for my brother’s death. We will fight for justice. We are from a freedom-fighter’s family. Fighting runs in our blood. I got in touch with NPA officials, who promised to conduct a thorough probe without any loose ends. We will bring the issue to the Indian government’s notice too,” Anukriti told Express. 

By Moule Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com

Trainee IPS Officer Drowns

A 60-year-old retired professor Ram Niwas Manav’s dream to make his son an IPS officer that he had earlier promised to his father, a freedom fighter, was shattered after an young trainee IPS officer Manu Mukt Manav drowned in a swimming pool under suspicious circumstances at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad two days ago. An Indian Police Service (IPS) officer trainee, Manu Mukt Manav, died at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy at Sivarampally near here on Thursday night  after he entered the swimming pool on the academy premises. According to NPA officials, Manav along with another officer, entered into the pool after a get-together on Thursday night. But was drowned. He was shifted to a corporate hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. It was not clear how Manu drowned. NPA director Aruna Bahugana ordered a  probe into the incident. Rajendernagar police registered a case and launched an investigation. When NPA officials found Manu Mukt in swimming pool, he was clad in plainclothes instead of a swimming suit. Are trainee officers at the academy allowed to swim in the pool late in the nights? NPA officials have to clarify this.  The body was handed over to his family after postmortem was conducted at the Osmania hospital.  Manu Mukt hails from Tigra village in  Haryana. He secured 180th rank in the UPSC exam in 2012-13. Manu did his graduation from a college in Hisar and post-graduation from Punjab University. Manu Mukt’s grandfather Pandit Matadin was a freedom fighter. He wanted his son Ram Niwas Manav (Manu Mukt’s father) to become a police officer. However, Ram Niwas Manav  chose a different profession. To fulfill his father’s promise, Ram Niwas encouraged his son Manu Mukt to become an IPS officer.

By Moule Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com

These Snakes Held 'Local Darbars' Right Under the Nose of Police

Almost a month after an 18-year-old girl was gang-raped by the Faisal Dayyani gang at Pahadishareef, new details have emerged of the culprits’ audacity and strong-arm tactics — it appears they used snakes to intimidate people and settle land disputes at ‘local darbars’ in Jallepally. They had similarly threatened the girl with a snake before sexually assaulting her. Now, it has come to light that the gang members had also offered a bribe of `2 lakh to the Pahadishareef police to get the case against them scrapped. An internal police report on the gang-rape case revealed the key accused, Faisal Dayyani, with the help of a local political leader, offered the bribe to the Pahadishareef police. This has led to the immediate transfer of inspector Bhaskar Reddy. Officials, however, are still investigating whether the police accepted the bribe. It’s said that the police had initially refused to take the gang-rape victim’s complaint. Finally, they did take into custody two of the accused a few days after the incident of July 31 but let them off later. The case was taken up again after a senior police officer directed the local police to take it seriously. Cyberabad Police Commissioner CV Anand, who transferred Pahadishareef Inspector for alleged negligence in registering cases on time against the gang-rape accused, said Tuesday that they were trying to dig up past criminal records of the Faisal gang members. The police found some leads that one of the gang members Salam Hamdi, 24, a resident of Bismillah colony, Venkatapur village, Saroornagar, is a snake charmer and supplies snakes to gang leader, Faisal Dayyani. It has also been found that Dayyani and his fellow gang members were involved in organising local darbars — for settling land disputes — in Jallepally by threatening the parties concerned with snakes. Investigation revealed that they used to record the proceedings on their cell phones. The gang members were also allegedly involved in extortion cases, targeting local businesses. Though their weapon was a snake, the gang was tech savvy enough to use WhatsApp to exchange information and coordinate their criminal activities. With their dreaded activities now coming to light, residents of Cyberabad are questioning police inaction in general and with regard to the gang-rape at Pahadishareef in particular. The police, on their part, have requested the angry residents of Jallepally to cooperate with them in exposing all the previous offences of the Faisal Dayyani gang.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com