Preeti Raghuvanshi case:Cong says her brother is missing, cops

The opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh today claimed that the brother of Preeti Raghuvanshi, who had allegedly committed suicide after her marriage to a state minister's son last month, had gone "missing" and accused Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of trying to shield his Cabinet colleague.

However, police in Raisen district, from where the Raghuvanshi family hails, clarified that Preeti's brother, Deepak, was not missing and is "moving freely".

On March 17, 28-year-old Preeti, who had allegedly married to state PWD Minister Rampal Singh's son Girjesh Pratap Singh in June 2017, committed suicide at her parents' house in Udaipura.

Her family members alleged that she had ended her life as Rampal Singh was planning to marry off his son to another woman.

"The disappearance of Preeti's brother, Deepak, in a suspicious manner has raised doubts. Rampal Singh's family members are forcing him (Deepak) to give false statements. Police are not trying to locate Deepak. They had not even registered a missing person's information report," Madhya Pradesh unit Congress president Arun Yadav told reporters today.

He said the Congress wanted Deepak's "abductors" traced.

When contacted, Raisen Superintendent of Police, Jagat Singh Rajput said, "The Congress' allegations are baseless. Deepak had met Udaipura's Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) on April 9 and had also given his statement to the police on April 10. He is moving freely here".

Yadav claimed that a senior police officer had visited the minister' residence yesterday.

"The visit of the officer shows that CM Chouhan wanted to hush up the matter as it involves the minister who is close to him," Yadav said, adding that police had failed to take any action against Singh and his son into the matter.

The Congress on April 5 launched a 'march for justice', raising the issue of Preeti's suicide.

The opposition party had demanded the minister's resignation on the issue and registration of a case against his son.

The minister had said that if his son had accepted that Preeti was his wife, he too would be ready to accept her as his (late) daughter-in-law.

Police haven't registered any FIR yet.