Probe into death of whistleblower

Jul 02, 2010 - Age Correspondent |

Chandigarh

The Haryana government has ordered an investigation into the sudden demise of Bishambhar Kumar Malhotra, a Panipat-based jeweller who had courageously exposed a murky extortion racket involving senior officers of the Haryana police STF some months ago. Malhotra died in a Delhi hospital on Wednesday after a suspected

ingestion of pesticide (Celphos) tablets on Sunday night. Family members told the police the jeweller, who was recuperating from a recent surgery, may have mistakenly swallowed the pesticide.
However, inspector-general police V. Kamraja said he has issued written instructions for a full investigation into Malhotra’s death by the superintendent of police at Panipat.
“We must ascertain whether the death was an accident or was he driven to suicide because of exposing the STF extortion racket,” he said.
Notably, Haryana’s STF was disbanded and seven top officers, including its chief Ashok Sheoran, were arrested after CCTV footage provided by the jeweller showed them looting cash and demanding extortion money in March this year.

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