Laptop, diary seized from Nirupama's friend

The police on Sunday seized journalist Nirupama Pathak's laptop from her friend Priyabhanshu Ranjan, but found that all the data in it was missing.

Director-General of Police Niaz Ahmed said it was a serious matter and it would be investigated seriously.

Some other belongings like her diary were also seized by a police team from Koderma. They also took Mr. Ranjan's cellphone.

Nirupama, 22, was found dead on April 29 in her parents' house at Tilaya in Koderma district of Jharkhand under mysterious circumstances.

The DGP said Mr. Ranjan was interrogated in Delhi while Nirupama's parents were questioned in Koderma, Jharkhand, on Saturday.

When contacted, Mr. Ranjan, a journalist based in Delhi, said he had received an SMS from Nirupama asking him to copy to a pen drive all their photographs from the laptop and then delete them. The SMS was sent to him on April 27 at 9.31 p.m.

While Nirupama's family accused Mr. Ranjan of forcing her to commit “suicide,” Mr. Ranjan's family blamed them for her death.