IAS officer Anurag Tiwari's death: Probe to be handed-over to CBI; Uttar Pradesh Police registers murder case

Five days after a Karnataka-cadre IAS officer Anurag Tiwari’s body was found in Lucknow, the state government on Monday said that the investigations into his death will be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

“It has been decided that investigation will be transferred to CBI,” Arvind Kumar, Principal secretary Home, said.

Earlier on Monday, the Uttar Pradesh police registered a murder case on a complaint by his family members, who met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and pressed for a CBI probe.

Post-mortem had indicated that Anurag Tiwari, 36, had died of asphyxia but police said that an SIT team probing the case was awaiting the test reports of his viscera and blood samples and heart to find the exact cause of the death.

Tiwari’s family had alleged that he was murdered at the behest of corrupt officers as he was about to expose a “scam” in the department of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs in Bengaluru where he was posted as commissioner.

The mother and brother of the officer met the Uttar Pradesh chief minister on Monday and requested him to hand over the probe to the CBI, saying they were unhappy with the probe by the state police.Tiwari’s brother Mayank told reporters that the scene of crime has been washed and the mobile phone has been found in unlocked condition.

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“We demanded CBI inquiry in order to find out why he was killed,” his mother Sushila Devi told newspersons after meeting the chief minister.

“”We are not satisfied with the police probe... The chief minister has assured us that justice will be done,” Mayank said, adding that the CM told them that every possible step will be taken to nab the culprits and asked them to wait till the SIT probe is completed.

The UP police had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the death on May 18.

“The SIT team is yet to submit its report as it is going through all the possible clues and angles meticulously,” Senior Superintendent of Police, Deepak Kumar said.

The issue has taken political colour after opposition members raised the matter vociferously in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly to question the law and order situation under the BJP government. The Assemly premises are hardly a kilometre from the spot where his body was found.

However, an Uttar Pradesh Minister said in the House that the officer was about to expose a major scam under the Congress government in Karnataka.

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Tiwari, a 2007-batch IAS officer, was staying at the Meera Bai guest house with a batch mate after attending a mid-career training programme at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie. 

(With inputs from agencies)