In a bid to set at rest all the charges and counter-charges relating to the reasons behind the DSP’s death, the State government on Saturday evening transferred both the cases - Gokulraj’s murder and DSP Vishnupriya’s alleged suicide - to the State Crime Branch CID.
Police sources said that a probe by the CB-CID, an independent agency not reporting to any of the field, range or zonal level officials, could give the confidence to those concerned that the probe will be done in a free, fair and transparent manner bringing out the exact circumstances leading to the “suicide” of the DSP.
With the Gokulraj murder having triggered a near caste conflict in the region between Dalits and members of a higher caste, any unanswered questions in the DSP’s death could be used by both the sides to make claims and counter-claims to vindicate their version and aggravate the situation, hence the decision to transfer the case to the CB-CID, police sources said.
This move is aimed at silencing the vociferous demand for a CBI probe. As charges against top police officials revolve more around the Gokulraj murder probe as the cause for the DSP’s ‘suicide’, officials said that case was also transferred to the CB-CID.
A total of 17 persons were arrested for the murder of V. Gokulraj, whose body was found with head severed on the railway track near Pallipalayam on June 24.
A ten-member CB-CID team led by DSP M. Rajan from Salem on Saturday inspected the quarters where DSP Vishnupriya was found hanging and commenced the investigation.
