IAS officer Anurag Tewari had feared for his life, says brother

'Police probe into his death sloppy, case must go to CBI'

Karnataka cadre IAS officer Anurag Tewari, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances here on May 17, had feared for his life two months ago and had gone into hiding for a few days, his family has claimed.

Tewari’s elder brother Mayank said he had no “faith” in the ongoing investigation and that the family would try to meet UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to request him to order a CBI probe into the death.

“Anurag had a premonition two months ago that there was threat to his life... In fact he was under so much stress that he had gone into hiding at a place away from Bengaluru between March 20 and 25 and remained incommunicado during that period,” Mayank said in Bahraich, their hometown.

The IAS officer had asked his brother not to send their parents to Bengaluru saying the “atmosphere was not safe”, he added.

“Anurag was being harassed by his superiors... he was not granted leave despite repeated requests... he had not been paid salary for the last four to five months,” Mayank claimed. “Anurag had told me that he wanted to leave the place (Bengaluru).”

He continued: “We are absolutely certain that it’s a murder... the post-mortem report has left many questions unanswered... we have no faith in the Lucknow-based forensic science laboratory... its director has a dubious past.”

Mayank suggested that the police investigation in the matter was sloppy. “The room (where Tewari had stayed) has not yet been sealed... his call records have been deleted,” he said. The family will file an FIR in this connection in a day or two, he added.

Lucknow police chief Deepak Kumar has written to the Karnataka government to provide detailed information about Tewari.

“We are investigating the case from several angles,” Kumar said.

Sources, however, said the investigation had not made any progress and police were waiting for the report of viscera and heart examination.

Tewari was Commissioner, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, Karnataka. His body was found lying on the roadside a few metres from Meerabai Guest House in Hazratganj locality of Lucknow on the morning of May 17.