JOIN USMan 'jumps' to death, cop leaps to conclusion
When the body of Dhananjaya (45) was found in Vijayanagar a month ago, the investigating officer of the Vijayanagar police station, did not summon forensics experts who could have provided clues to the nature of death.
According to police records, Dhananjaya, a second division clerk employed at the General Post Office (GPO) allegedly jumped off the second floor of a house in Vijayanagar on June 16. When the police reached the spot, they found a bottle containing a liquid that is usually used to kill cockroaches and a paper cutter. His throat bore cuts, inflicted apparently by the paper cutter. The police are not sure the wounds were self-inflicted.
Police sources said under such circumstances, when available evidence is not ‘open-and-shut’, the investigating officer “should have summoned forensics experts who could have discovered clues he could not.”
But Jagannath Rai, the investigating officer, who heads the Vijayanagar police station, ignored the circumstantial evidence, including the wounds on Dhananjaya’s body which was, however, sent for autopsy.
The post-mortem report is not with the police yet, as the viscera is being examined.
West Division Deputy Commissioner of Police B Shivkumar was non-committal: “Police do not generally summon a forensics team to each and every crime scene. Some times, the investigating officer can use his discretion”.
What is, however, interesting is that the case was transferred to the Kamakshipalya police who are now pursuing leads related to Dhananjaya’s wife Padma’s alleged extra-marital affairs.
Police sources said the angle was being pursued after allegations by Dhanajaya’s parents that Padma and her paramour might have conspired to do away with him.