Orissa High Court Orders Fresh Probe By CID In Suspicious Death Of Former Hockey Player Birendra Lakra’s Friend

The Orissa High Court has recently ordered reinvestigation by CID (Crime Branch) into a suspicious death case where former Hockey Player Birendra Lakra is an accused. While underlining shoddy investigation by the police, the Single Judge Bench of Justice Sashikanta Mishra observed,

“In fact, even the evidence collected by the I.O. is not such as would completely rule out foul play. There are glaring gaps in the investigation as discussed hereinabove, for which, it cannot be so easily concluded that the death of the deceased was certainly due to suicidal hanging and nothing else.”

Factual Background

On February 28, 2022 at about 12 PM, the petitioner received a call from Birendra Lakra on his mobile phone that his son Anand Toppo (deceased) was unconscious and shifted to Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar in an Ambulance by one Manjeet Tete. The doctor, however, declared him brought dead.

Suspecting foul play in the death, the petitioner attempted to lodge a complaint before the Inspector-in-Charge (IIC) of Infocity Police Station, but the same was not accepted on the ground that an FIR had already been lodged as a case of suicide.

The petitioner submitted a written complaint on April 1, 2022 before the IIC, with a request to register the same and convert the unnatural death case into a murder case. The IIC received the same but did not give any acknowledgment. On repeated query by the petitioner, it was conveyed that investigation is in progress.

Being aggrieved by such inaction of the IIC, the petitioner sent the information along with his previous complaint in writing to the DCP, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack by registered post requesting to register the case under Section 302 of IPC and to conduct proper investigation.

No action being taken, the petitioner sent another complaint on May 17, 2022 by registered post to the Commissioner of Police, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack for redressal of his grievance. Since no action was taken despite such steps, the petitioner approached the High Court.

It was argued for the petitioner that one of the accused Birendra Lakra is a high-ranking Police Officer, i.e. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and thus, though clear evidence of foul play was found in the death of the deceased, final report was submitted as mistake of fact deliberately portraying the death as a case of suicide.

During pendency of the said case, the police acknowledged the written complaint of the petitioner and registered the same on November 24, 2022. Taking note of such facts, another Single Bench of the High Court had, inter alia, observed:

“The inaction shown by the police is deplored. If there is even a shred of truth in the allegations made herein, such infamy by the police deserves strong condemnation. The core mission of the police is to protect citizens from the undesirable elements of society. But if its actions were to leave the community more vulnerable to criminal victimization, it would undermine the popular confidence in law enforcement.”

On February 7, 2023, a final report was submitted as no prima facie evidence could be found to proceed for a case under Section 302 I.P.C. against the alleged accused persons and accordingly, the report was submitted as mistake of fact. Feeling aggrieved, the informant-petitioner filed the present application before the High Court.

Contentions of Parties

It was suggested that the Petitioner was administered poison along with alcohol which caused his death and the accused persons attempted to cover up such fact by showing it as a case of suicidal hanging. Further, it was argued, the IIC of Infocity Police Station, against whom the High Court had previously passed certain remarks, deliberately tried to protect accused Birendra Lakra in connivance with the I.O. of the case.

Therefore, a proper and fair investigation was demanded by a specialized agency of the State Government or the Central Government.

On the other side, counsel for the State submitted that the post-mortem report clearly reveals the case to be one of suicidal hanging. The ligature mark present on the neck of the deceased is adequate proof of such fact. He relied on the opinion of the doctor who opined that the injuries (ligature mark) could be suicidal in nature.

Thus, it was argued, no foul play can be said to have been involved. It was also suggested that even if the petitioner is aggrieved by submission of final report, it is open to him to move to the Court below by filing protest petition. However, he strongly objected an order for further investigation/reinvestigation.

Court’s Observations

After going through the evidence on record, the Court listed out seven different aspects which pointed towards a faulty investigation in the case by the police. It specifically highlighted that the doctor has not given a conclusive opinion, rather his opinion suggested that the death could be either due to ante mortem hanging or the result of consumption of alcohol with barbiturate.

The Court also perused the case diary carefully and from which it was of the opinion that even the evidence collected by the I.O. would not completely exclude the possibility of foul play.

“Of course, I would hasten to add that it is not the intention of this Court to impute any culpability to any person but only to highlight that investigation should have been directed towards the aspects referred above. It must be kept in mind that death of a human being has occurred. There is an allegation of foul play. The matter should therefore, have been investigated thoroughly touching all possible angles keeping in view the allegations,” the Court added.

The Court underlined the fact that the accused Birendra Lakra is a high-ranking Police Officer belonging to the grade of Deputy Superintendent (DSP) and thus, ordered:

“The Petitioner’s allegation that the investigation was biased or in any case not impartial appears to be reasonable in the facts and circumstances of the case. Therefore, directing the same agency to reinvestigate would not be proper. Rather for the ends of justice, it would be proper for an independent agency like the C.I.D. (Crime Branch) to do so.”

Having regard to the fact that one of the accused persons is himself a Senior Police Officer in the rank of DSP, the Court directed to conduct reinvestigation through an Officer of the higher grade.

“This Court therefore, directs the Addl. Director General (Crime Branch) to entrust the investigation to a Senior Officer not below the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police who shall reinvestigate the matter from all angles and submit report to the concerned Court accordingly”, the Court concluded.

Case Title: Bandhna Toppo v. State of Orissa & Ors.

Case No.: CRLMC No. 1462 of 2023

Date of Judgment: July 5, 2023

Counsel for the Petitioner: Mr. Shivsankar Mohanty, Advocate

Counsel for the State: Mr. S.N. Das, Addl. Standing Counsel

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Ori) 75

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