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Anurag Tiwari case: CBI files closure report, says IAS officer died due to accidental fall

In its report submitted to the special court here, the central agency claimed that Tiwari died due to an accidental fall that led to asphyxia (suffocation).

Updated on: Jun 19, 2019, 22:08:57 IST
Hindustan Times, Lucknow | By , Lucknow
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After carrying out investigations for nearly 20 months, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday filed its closure report in the mysterious death of Anurag Tiwari, a 2007 batch IAS officer from Karnataka cadre.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) (HT File)
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) (HT File)

In its report submitted to the special court here, the central agency claimed that Tiwari died due to an accidental fall that led to asphyxia (suffocation).

“It was neither suicide nor homicide,” the report added.

However, Anurag’s elder brother Mayank Tiwari said many questions remained unanswered in the entire sequence of events and he would register his protest against the report.

Mayank and other members of the family had alleged foul play after the IAS officer’s body was found outside the state guest house on Meera Bai Marg in Lucknow on May 17, 2017.

Mayank had alleged that his brother was murdered as he was about to blew the lid off a multi-crore scam in food and civil supplies department, Bengaluru, where he was posted as commissioner.

The family had lodged an FIR under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against unidentified people at the Hazratganj police station.

The CBI took over the case on June 16, 2017, on the recommendation of the state government.

A senior CBI official, who did not wish to be named, said the findings suggested that the officer died due to asphyxia after he accidentally fell during the wee hours of May 17, 2017.

“The post-mortem report had earlier revealed that Tiwari died due to asphyxia but the doctors could not confirm the reason behind it. The viscera report too, could not ascertain the exact reason of asphyxia,” he added.

The officer said a panel of doctors from a reputed medical institute in Delhi examined the post-mortem report and other evidences to arrive at the conclusion that Tiwari died due to asphyxia after falling.

“Detailed investigations revealed that no staff or guard witnessed any unusual activity or abnormal behaviour outside the state guest house before and after the recovery of Tiwari’s body,” he said, adding that Tiwari brother also lodged the FIR after five days.

The incident took place while Tiwari was staying at the state guest house with his UP cadre batchmate Prabhu Nath Singh after returning from a mid-career training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie.