A Chhattisgarh police constable, who was facing investigation in connection with an alleged police recruitment scam, was found hanging from a tree in Rajnandgaon district on Saturday (December 21, 2024).
A handwritten message on the palm of the deceased has added mystery to the death of Anil Ratnakar in an alleged attempt to topple officials and implicate junior staff in the scam, with the opposition targeting the state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. Alleged corruption. Ratnakar’s family has also accused him of abuse by the investigators.
Rajnandgaon Superintendent of Police (SP) Mohit Garg said Ratnakar’s body was found on Saturday morning. Mr. Garg said Ratnakar and some police personnel, as well as employees of Timing Technology Company, which is partnering in the ongoing recruitment drive, are being questioned in connection with alleged irregularities in the drive.
The First Information Report (FIR) regarding the alleged irregularities notes that “the process was improperly tampered with” and “the possibility of involvement of the technical team, police personnel and others in the above incident cannot be ruled out”. .
Ratnakar, stationed at Jalbandha police station in neighboring Khairagarh-Chuikhadan-Gandai, went to Rajnandgaon to assist in the same recruitment campaign in which 20,000 candidates participated. Mr. Garg said that so far six people have been arrested including four constables and two from a private company providing technical support.
The SP added that a handwritten note with a pen was found on Ratnakar’s palm, alleging that the (police) personnel were targeted in an attempt to “protect the officers involved”.
Anil Ratnakar’s elder brother Sunil Ratnakar repeated the allegations and said he was framing his brother. He cited Anil’s phone calls and said he was humiliated and tortured by his superiors.
“He called from someone else’s number and said he was not even 1% involved. Sunil Ratnakar told reporters that he was taking statements from them (him and other police personnel) one after the other and they were being abused and tortured.
Mr. Garg said that the allegations will be investigated.
“The matter was serious from the beginning and has been taken seriously. When this came to light, we filed an FIR. There will be a deep investigation into what was written in Anil’s hand. We are already investigating and probing (the role of) all the officials and strict action will be taken if we find any evidence against anyone,” Mr. Garg said.
Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel took to social media X and demanded a high-level investigation. “Rajnandgaon police recruitment scam seems to be a serious matter. What constable Anil Ratnakar wrote on his hand before committing suicide shows the seriousness. It means ‘Staff are being made, officers are being protected’. All officers are involved” clear @vishnudsai (Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Mr. Baghel said.
Those who need help to overcome suicidal thoughts can contact Sanjivini, Society for Mental Health Suicide Prevention Helpline 011-4076 9002 (Mon-Sat 10 am to 7:30 pm).
published – Dec 21, 2024 11:13 pm IST