IPS officer under house arrest on pretext of quarantine, alleges Bihar DGP

Bihar and Mumbai Police clash over investigation of actor's death, his woman friend's statement

Expressing his displeasure over what he called non-cooperation of Mumbai Police in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey claimed that IPS officer Vinay Tiwari was put under house arrest in Mumbai on the pretext of quarantine.

Tiwari was 'quarantined' by the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation on Sunday night after he arrived in the metropolis regarding the investigations into the Rajput case. The IPS officer from the Bihar cadre is heading a team of state police investigating the case.

Speaking to IANS, Pandey alleged that the Mumbai Police was "not cooperating" with Bihar Police in the probe into the alleged suicide case of the Bollywood actor and was "speaking the language of actress Rhea Chakraborty" who has been blamed by the bereaved family for the death of Rajput.

"Mumbai Police is parroting Rhea Chakraborty's stand. She is saying Bihar Police can't investigate the case and the Mumbai Police is supporting her contention," Pandey remarked.

"There is a certain respect that is due to an IPS officer. What message does the Mumbai Police want to convey to junior officials? They go like thieves and put an officer under house arrest. A few days ago, one of our officers was shoved and forced to sit in a prisoners' van. I denied all this to the media to save the reputation of the Mumbai Police. But this did happen as all saw the incident."

"We are trying to bring out the truth in the case. We too are adamant that we will not let the matter rest," the Director General of Police said.

The Bihar DGP said that the situation was so bad now in Mumbai that he was sure to be put under house arrest if he visited the metropolis to clear up things.

Pandey claimed that he had tried many a times to talk to the Mumbai Police chief but his calls had not been received. Nor has there been any revert from Mumbai Police, he added.

"A day after Rajput's body was found in his Mumbai flat, I tried to talk to Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh, but he did not take the call. He also did not call back. I even sent a WhatsApp message, but there was no reply."

The Bihar DGP said he had tried to call up again on Monday, but in vain. "We are now waiting for the Supreme Court to decide the issue. The investigations in the case can't be done without cooperation between the Bihar and Mumbai Police."

He alleged that the Mumbai Police was not even ready to show them the post-mortem report, CCTV footage, 'panchnama', forensic lab report etc regarding the case.