A special court has ordered the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) police station to register an FIR against three police officers including officer in-charge of the same police station Radhika Raman Minz, Ranchi city SP Saurav, DSP PK Mishra besides JMM leader Pankaj Mishra, in connection with the Rupa Tirkey death case.
The order of the special court has come on a complaint filed by Padmavati Orain, Rupa Tirkey’s mother. Tirkey was a former Sahebganj Mahila police station officer and was found dead under mysterious circumstances at her official residence in May this year.
“The court has directed the SC/ST police to register the FIR under section 156 (3) of the CrPC. The order has been passed on the basis of an audio clip, which had turned viral in connection with the case. Now that the court has ordered for an FIR in the case, we will also file a writ petition demanding that the case be investigated by a senior officer as a city SP rank officer is also facing charges,” lawyer Rajiv Kumar said
Tirkey was found hanging at her official residence in Sahebganj on May 3, 2021. The incident led to protests by social organisations even as Tirkey’s father had expressed lack of confidence in the Sahebganj police investigation that had declared it a case of suicide. A colleague of Rupa Tirkey was arrested by the local police for abetment to suicide. He is currently in jail.
{{/usCountry}}Tirkey was found hanging at her official residence in Sahebganj on May 3, 2021. The incident led to protests by social organisations even as Tirkey’s father had expressed lack of confidence in the Sahebganj police investigation that had declared it a case of suicide. A colleague of Rupa Tirkey was arrested by the local police for abetment to suicide. He is currently in jail.
{{/usCountry}}A petition was also filed in the Jharkhand High Court, which ordered a CBI probe into the case. The CBI has registered a case and investigation is underway.
According to the complaint filed on September 23, 2021 with the special court, Tirkey’s mother had approached the ST/SC police station in Ranchi on September 11 for registration of FIR against the DSP and Pankaj Mishra in this connection but was turned away.
“The officer in charge received the complaint, but did not act on it and did not file an FIR. The family had also approached City SP Saurav, but he too did not act. We have all the related records. Subsequently, Padmavati had lodged a court complaint against the four people,” said Rajiv Kumar.
Radhika Raman Minz said on Thursday they were yet to receive a copy of the court order.
“Once we get the order copy, we will see what we have to do. We have several legal options to move forward. We will take adequate action in consultation with our senior officials,” Minz said on Thursday.
On why he did not act on the complaint he received on September 11, Minz said he was waiting for directions from his superiors in the case.
“The complaint was against a senior police officer. So I could not have acted immediately without proper investigation and direction from seniors. Now that we hear from journalists that the court has directed us to file an FIR which also involves me and senior officers, we will act in consultation with my superiors,” he added.