Missing whistleblower’s family moves SC

August 01, 2014 09:18 am | Updated December 04, 2021 11:27 pm IST - NEW DELHI

Sunil Kumar Upadhyay, a preservation officer at the Indian Museum in Kolkata, has been missing for about a month, but the Kolkata Police is clueless about his whereabouts.

Mr. Upadhyay (35), a Class-1 officer, was last seen on July 3 evening when he went out of his Sultan Alam Road residence for a walk. His family on Thursday moved the Supreme Court, seeking an impartial probe into his disappearance by an independent agency.

The petition filed by Krishan Mohan Upadhyay, the younger brother of Mr. Upadhyay, said he went missing shortly after he “pointed out irregularities in the management of the Indian Museum.”

“It is an open secret now that he had raised his voice against corruption and irregularities prevailing in Indian museum for which he has paid a price,” the petition, filed through Mr. Krishan Mohan’s advocate Anirudh Sharma, said.

The petition alleges that Mr. Upadhyay’s disappearance has links to “objectionable activities taking place in the Indian Museum, Kolkata, like the Tagore fake paintings scam.”

The petition has made the West Bengal, Union of India, Ministry of Culture and the Central Bureau of Investigation parties in the case.

It wants the Supreme Court to direct the West Bengal Government and the Centre to produce Mr. Upadhyay before the court, saying he may be in peril.

The petition also seeks a CBI probe into the role of the local mafia dealing in rare artefacts and museum staff in the disappearance.

“Due to his honest credential, pressure was being put on Mr. Upadhyay to withdraw from the race of Deputy Director of the Indian Museum. His appointment would have created a lot of trouble for some people,” the petition said.

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