E-Paper
Two senior GST officials booked for murder of truck driver
Joint commissioner of police Anand Prakash Tiwari said the FIR was registered against GST joint commissioners Amit Mohan and Paras Nath alleged that his father was physically assaulted and wrongfully confined for three days.
Two senior Goods and Service Tax (GST) officials in Kanpur were charged with murder after a truck driver was found dead in the cabin of his vehicle on Sunday, police have said.
Joint commissioner of police Anand Prakash Tiwari said the FIR was registered against GST joint commissioners Amit Mohan and Paras Nath, along with some unnamed department officials, after a son of the truck driver, Balbir Singh from Ludhiana (Punjab), alleged that his father was physically assaulted and wrongfully confined for three days.
The complainant, Govind Singh, also said his father had urged the officials to release him so that he could attend the funeral of his other son back home, but Balbir’s plea fell on deaf ears.
Meanwhile, trader groups said Balbir was forcefully confined to his truck even as he kept weeping for his dead son for three days. He was found dead in the cabin of his truck on Sunday.
After traders demanded that stringent action be taken against the accused officials within 72 hours, the police registered an FIR in the case on the complaint of Balbir’s son Govind Singh, who reached Kanpur early Monday morning.
In his complaint, Govind said his father informed him that he was detained for some irregularities concerning his scrap-laden truck. “I learnt about his (Balbir Singh) death around 5 pm on Sunday when I got a call from police who informed me that my father was discovered dead in the cabin of his truck,” Govind said.
Gyanesh Mishra, the general secretary of Kanpur Udyog Vyapar Mandal, said the GST officials were wrong in detaining the driver of a truck that was already in their custody.
Meanwhile, GST officials in Kanpur were not available for a comment on the issue.
