Police to reopen probe into 1997 death of Congress leader in Bhopal
A Bhopal court has ordered a reinvestigation into Congress leader Sarla Mishra's 1997 death, citing an incomplete police closure report.
A court in Bhopal district of Madhya Pradesh on Thursday ordered police to reopen the investigation into the 1997 death of a Congress leader, citing the incomplete closure report filed by police.
Congress leader Sarla Mishra died in a fire at her home in Bhopal in February 1997. Following investigation, TT Nagar police station filed a closure report in the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) court on November 7, 2019, ruling the case as a suicide.
Sarla’s brother Anurag Mishra filed a petition challenging the closure report in the Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court in 2020. After hearing the case, the high court had ordered the Bhopal district court to hear the matter.
On Thursday, the district court ruled in favour of Anurag, saying the closure filed by the police was “incomplete”.
“The investigation done regarding the incident seems incomplete,” said judicial magistrate first class Palak Rai in her order. “The deceased’s statement was not taken before her death. The pieces of paper found in support of her death as suicide were also not independently investigated. No fingerprints were taken from the crime scene...The police should reinvestigate the matter.”
