Mystery still shrouds the death of Mehraj Khalid Mintoo, a final year student of engineering at the Rayat and Bahra Institute here. Mintoo, who belonged to Doda in J&K, had died on January 18.
His family has demanded a high-level probe into the incident. Khalid's father Riaz Ahmed Mintoo, who is a retired lecturer in Doda, has suspected a foul play and said that his son had been murdered.
In an email to the district police, Riaz Ahmed has stated that, on January 18, Khalid had called him on phone and had a lengthy talk, which ended at 8.51 pm. At 11 pm, he was informed by one of Khalid's friends that his son was in a critical condition. At 2.30, the family was informed about his death. He has stated that contradictory statements and suspicious conduct of his son's friend, who was with Khalid on the fateful night, pointed to his likely involvement in the case.
"The boy told the police that he had picked Khalid from Hoshiarpur's bus stand between 8 to 8.30 pm and since the latter was in a semi-conscious state, he immediately took him to the civil hospital, whereas my son had told me on phone that he was at Chandigarh and was exhausted due to a hectic schedule. Moreover, the civil hospital record revealed that Khalid was admitted at 11 pm," said Riaz.
{{/usCountry}}"The boy told the police that he had picked Khalid from Hoshiarpur's bus stand between 8 to 8.30 pm and since the latter was in a semi-conscious state, he immediately took him to the civil hospital, whereas my son had told me on phone that he was at Chandigarh and was exhausted due to a hectic schedule. Moreover, the civil hospital record revealed that Khalid was admitted at 11 pm," said Riaz.
{{/usCountry}}"The death of my son is neither natural nor accidental. It is a clear case of murder. We demand registration of an FIR under section 302 of IPC," said Riaz.
Talking to HT from Doda, Riaz said the Hoshiarpur police had recorded his statement on the very day of the incident and he had expressed doubts that his son could have been murdered but the police initiated proceedings under 174 CrPC only. Meanwhile,
Hoshiarpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Narinder Bhargav said that investigations were on.
He revealed that he had received an email from Doda superintendent of police in this regard but the complainant has been asked to appear personally before the local police to record statement.