U.P. CM orders probe into school girl’s death

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday ordered a probe by a Special Investigation Team into the death under suspicious circumstances of a Mainpuri school girl a day after Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra wrote to him seeking action in the case.

Mr. Adityanath also ordered a departmental inquiry against Mainpuri Superintendent of Police Ajay Shankar Rai and attached him to the DGP office in Lucknow for alleged laxity in the investigation of the case, the UP home department said in a statement.

Shamli SP Ajay Kumar will be the new Mainpuri SP.

Mr. Adityanath also instructed officials to send a reminder to the Centre recommending the case to be taken up by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The State had recommended a CBI probe in a letter dated September 27. Till the CBI takes charge, a three-member SIT led by IG Kanpur Mohit Agarwal would probe the case, the home department said.

U.P. police Special Task Force Deputy SP Shayamakant will also be part of the team.

The Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya student was found hanging from the ceiling of her hostel room in September, police had said.

While the police had stated that prima facie it appeared to be a case of suicide, the student’s parents alleged that she was murdered.

An FIR was lodged on their complaint against three persons, including the school principal and warden.

Mr. Adityanath has issued “strict instructions to SSP and SP of all districts that

harshest action will be taken if there is any delay or laxity in the investigation of such serious cases anywhere in the State,” a government spokesperson said.

Ms. Vadra on Saturday had appealed to Mr. Adityanath to initiate ‘impartial’ and immediate action in the case.

In a letter to Mr. Adityanath, Ms. Vadra rued that the case was yet to make any progress and wondered if the administration was “trying to save somebody.” She argued that an impartial probe was required to unveil all related aspects of the case and comfort the grieving family.

“More than two months have passed and an FIR was lodged against named persons. But what’s shocking is that neither has there been a probe nor any kind of action taken,” Ms. Vadra wrote.

She said that while the panchnama had found injury marks on the body, the post -mortem report did not mention any. The student’s family said she was murdered, Ms. Vadra said, adding that the body was disposed of in water illegally by the administration in the absence of her parents.