The Orissa High Court has ordered a reinvestigation into the alleged murder of hockey player Birendra Lakra’s friend last year in which a senior police officer and Birendra Lakra have been accused of involvement.
Facts of case
On February 28, 2022, Toppo was found dead under mysterious circumstances in a flat in which Lakra and a woman named Manjeet Tete were present.
Toppo’s father Bandhna Toppo had received a call from Lakra that his son was unconscious and shifted to Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar, in an ambulance. Later, the doctors declared him dead.
The deceased's father suspecting foul play lodged a complaint at the Infocity police station but this was not accepted on the ground that an FIR had already been lodged of a case of suicide.
The petitioner submitted a written complaint on April 1, 2022 before the IIC, with a request to register the same and convert the unnatural death case into a murder case. The IIC received the same but did not give any acknowledgment.
On December 15, 2022, the IO received a viscera chemical report of the deceased, which revealed the presence of alcohol and drugs.
The IO obtained the opinion of a doctor at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, who was of the view that the injury found on the neck of the deceased was ante -mortem in nature. On February 7, a final report was submitted stating that no prima facie evidence was made out to be a murder case.
Since no action was taken despite such steps, feeling aggrieved, Toppo's father filed the CRLMP before the High Court and ordered for a CID probe.
Submission on behalf of petitioner
Mr. Mohanty argued that one of the accused persons namely, Birendra Lakra is a high ranking Police Officer being a DSP and therefore, despite clear evidence of foul play involved in the death of the deceased, the final report was submitted as a mistake of fact deliberately portraying the death as a case of suicide. According to Mr. Mohanty, there is ample evidence on record to suggest that the Petitioner was administered poison along with alcohol which caused his death and the accused persons attempted to cover up such fact by showing it as a case of suicidal hanging.
Mr. Mohanty submitted that a proper and fair investigation is an essential requirement of the criminal justice system, this is a fit case where fresh investigation should be conducted by any specialized agency of the State or Central Governments.
Submission on behalf of the State
Mr. S.N.Das, learned Addl. Standing Counsel for the State submitted that the post-mortem report clearly reveals the case to be one of suicidal hanging. The ligature mark present on the neck of the deceased is adequate proof of such a fact. The chemical examination of the viscera revealed the presence of alcohol and barbiturates, which is consistent with the version of the witnesses that the deceased had consumed alcohol prior to his death.
Moreover, the opinion of the doctor is also very clear that the injuries (ligature marks) could be suicidal in nature. Under such circumstances, no foul play whatsoever can be said to have been involved.
Mr. Das further argued that even otherwise if the Petitioner is aggrieved by the submission of the final report by the I.O., it is open to him to move the court below by filing a protest petition, which can be considered in accordance with the law, but under the facts, a case for further investigation/reinvestigation is not made out at all.
Observation of court
After going through the evidence on record, the Court listed seven different aspects which pointed towards a faulty investigation in the case by the police. It specifically highlighted that the doctor has not given a conclusive opinion, rather his opinion suggested that the death could be either due to ante mortem hanging or the result of consumption of alcohol with barbiturate.
The Court also perused the case diary carefully and observed, "I have perused the case diary carefully. I do not find anything therein to even remotely suggest that investigation was directed to the aforementioned aspects. Of course, I would hasten to add that it is not the intention of this Court to impute any culpability to any person but only to highlight that investigation should have been directed towards the aspects referred above. It must be kept in mind that death of a human being has occurred. There is an allegation of foul play. The matter should therefore, have been investigated thoroughly touching all possible angles keeping in view the allegations."
The court observed that from the apparent gaps and incongruities as has been narrated earlier and the Court is left with little doubt that the investigation in the present case cannot be said to have been conducted properly and that several areas still remain to be investigated.
Judgment
The court allowed the CRLMC and directed that the case shall be reinvestigated by the C.I.D. (Crime Branch) and also directed the Additional Director General (Crime Branch) to entrust the investigation to a Senior Officer, not below the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police who shall reinvestigate the matter from all angles and submit a report to the Court accordingly.
Case Title: Bandhna Toppo v. State of Orissa & Ors.
Coram: Justice Sashikanta Mishra
Case No.: CRLMC No. 1462 of 2023
Counsel for the Petitioner: Adv. Shivsankar Mohanty.
Counsel for the State: Adv. S.N. Das.
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