Two days after the Mansukh Hiran death probe was transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from the anti-terrorism squad (ATS), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Ashish Shelar on Friday alleged that state agencies including the police, government hospital doctors, etc have attempted to destroy and tamper the evidence in the case. Shelar said he has written to NIA, requesting it to carry out a thorough probe in the case.
The former minister has alleged that the trader’s post-mortem report was fudged, and crucial information was not provided in the report. Shelar also alleged that a “big conspiracy” was hatched at the “behest of the state government, ministers and leaders.”
“The state government’s ill-intention was to misdirect the probe by destroying evidence and fudging it… I’ve written to NIA demanding that doctors, lab experts, police, ministers and leaders be probed thoroughly,” he said, while holding a copy of the post-mortem report at a press conference.
Pointing to some alleged lapses in the investigation and gathering of evidence, Shelar said that the fact that Hiran’s face was covered with handkerchiefs when his body was discovered from a Thane creek was not mentioned in the report.
“The post-mortem report, which has to mention what was found on the person’s body, does not state the handkerchiefs. The handkerchiefs were not handed over [for post-mortem]. Who took them and why were they not mentioned in the report, and on whose orders? It is clear that it was an attempt by the police to destroy the evidence,” Shelar alleged, adding that the doctors who carried out Hiran’s post mortem on March 5 did not do complete the videography of the procedure, which he claims is a violation of the National Human Rights Commission guidelines.
{{/usCountry}}“The post-mortem report, which has to mention what was found on the person’s body, does not state the handkerchiefs. The handkerchiefs were not handed over [for post-mortem]. Who took them and why were they not mentioned in the report, and on whose orders? It is clear that it was an attempt by the police to destroy the evidence,” Shelar alleged, adding that the doctors who carried out Hiran’s post mortem on March 5 did not do complete the videography of the procedure, which he claims is a violation of the National Human Rights Commission guidelines.
{{/usCountry}}“The post-mortem report mentions the process took nearly two hours. It was expected of them to record the entire procedure, but only seven to eight [video] clips of a minute each were recorded. On whose order did the government hospital doctors manipulate the evidence? Who is that minister or leader?” he questioned.
Alluding to a conspiracy that Hiran’s death had to be shown as suicide, Shelar said that doctors of forensic laboratories “tampered” with evidence by conducting the diatom test, which they are not authorised to carry out.
Diatoms are single-celled algae, and this test is usually conducted to detect their presence in the body to indicate drowning.
“A diatom test was done to suggest it was a suicide. Also, only authorised [forensic] laboratories can do the test. Kalina Forensic Lab said it was not authorised. The government sent the samples to Sir JJ Hospital, but they are not a designated lab to conduct the diatom test either. Then why did doctors there carry out a test? It is clear tampering of the sample, which was an important evidence,” Shelar said.
Responding to the allegations, state housing minister from NCP, Jitendra Awhad said, “ATS has done its probe properly. Such allegations are baseless. It is wrong to just keep on alleging indiscriminately and in an unchecked manner. He added that are attempts to create a “doubt” and “point the needle of suspicion” on someone.
A senior police officer attached to the state ATS said their investigation has revealed that the accused arrested in the Antilia security scare case and Hiran’s murder probe have destroyed some pieces of evidence such as CCTV footages of certain places. The officer, however, denied that any attempts have been made by any state authority to derail or affect the investigation.