Assam govt decides to hand over PWD assistant engineer's suicide case to CBI

Guwahati: Amid protests, Assam government on Thursday decided to handover a case related to the alleged suicide of a young woman engineer in Bongaigaon district on July 22.

Joshita Das, an assistant engineer in the Public Works Department (PWD) in the western Assam district was found dead inside her rented room. In a suicide note purportedly written by her, the 26-year-old engineer blamed his colleagues of mental harassment by pressurising her to sign bills of contractors despite many anomalies.

As anger against the incident grew, the state government set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and started an investigation. Three of her colleagues have been arrested in connection with the case so far.

"The SIT has already arrested three persons and the crime scene has been videographed and forensic samples have been collected. But given the circumstances of her death and nature of the case, the Cabinet today decided to recommend to the Centre for an investigation by the CBI," Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters in Guwahati on Thursday. The CBI director unofficially assured to take over the case, Sarma said.

Two PWD officials, Sub Divisional Officer (SDO) Aminul Islam and Executive Engineer Dinesh Medhi, named in the suicide note, have been arrested. Identity of the third arrested person has not been disclosed yet.

The incident sparked outrage across Assam, with several organisations and political parties blaming the state government and demanding justice for the victim's family. The Opposition Congress staged a protest in Guwahati on July 27, holding the BJP-led government responsible for the engineer's death.