In suicide note, officer blames CBI ‘torture’ for family’s extreme step

NEW DELHI: Former bureaucrat BK Bansal and three members of his family were driven to suicide by the “mental and physical torture” inflicted on them by the officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), according to two purported suicide notes left by him and son Yogesh who were found dead in their East Delhi flat on Tuesday.

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The provenance of the two notes remained unclear. The police said they found signed photocopies of both — dated September 26, the day before Bansal and his son allegedly killed themselves — at the scene. The originals are yet to turn up. A prominent wire service received similar signed copies of the two purported suicide notes via courier on Wednesday; the envelope, sources said, bore the name of BK Bansal as sender. Copies of the two notes were circulating in media houses and on social media through Wednesday.

The notes name five CBI officials for allegedly driving the Bansal family to suicide. (HT is withholding their names until the original notes are recovered and authenticated after due process.)

Bansal’s 58-year-old wife Satya Bala and 28-year-old daughter Neha were found dead in the same rooms of the Madhu Vihar flat on July 19, having hanged themselves because of what their purported suicide notes called the humiliation of the CBI search after Bansal’s arrest on July 16 in a bribery case.

Bansal and Yogesh were found hanging in the same rooms on Tuesday. “Even if I was at fault in the case, why were my wife and daughter pushed to suicide by CBI officials… This cannot be termed as suicide. It is a murder of two ladies,” Bansal’s note said, describing how two women officers of the CBI slapped and pinched his wife. Before their alleged suicide, Bansal’s wife and daughter shared details of their “torture” with friends and neighbours, said the note. It said that these CBI officers should be put through a lie detector test.

In his note, Yogesh has said his mother and his sister were against suicide but were tortured to such an extent that they took the extreme step. He said they were “murdered” by CBI officers. A neighbour who made fun of their situation added to the humiliation, it said.

The father-son duo have named a Deputy Inspector General-rank official, two women officials of the rank of Superintendent of Police and Deputy SP respectively, an Investigating Officer and a “fat” constable (whose name apparently they didn’t know).

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the CBI said it has received communication from the Delhi Police that includes the two purported Bansal notes containing allegations against certain CBI officials. “We have examined the matter and decided to probe the allegations,” said CBI spokesperson RK Gaur.

Gaur added that the CBI is fully committed to conduct the investigation in a fair and professional manner. “If any violation is established during the probe, strict action will be taken against the CBI officials concerned. The competent court will be informed,” he said.

The agency had charged Bansal with accepting Rs 9 lakh as bribe and attempting to foil a probe against a Mumbai-based pharmaceutical company owned by TV actor Anuj Saxena. The CBI alleged that Bansal sought bribe in order to save Saxena’s company Elder Pharmaceuticals from an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

The Delhi Police has not registered any case related to abetment of suicide. Instead, the police sent copies of the suicide notes to the CBI for “further action”. DCP (East) Rishipal Singh said, “We found photocopies of the suicide notes written and signed by Bansal and his son Yogesh. The notes contained harassment allegations against some CBI officials. We forwarded the notes to the CBI as they were probing the corruption case against Bansal.”