Death of complainant against Haryana cops to be probed

PANIPAT - Haryana Police have ordered an inquiry into the mysterious death of a jeweller, who had helped in the arrest of a top police officer in an extortion case in March this year, an official said here Thursday.

According to police, jeweller B.K. Malhotra died in a Delhi hospital of medical complications late Tuesday.

“This is a serious issue and before closing it we want to probe every angle of this death. Therefore, I have directed the district police chief to look into it and to submit the inquiry report to me at the earliest,” Inspector General of Police (Rohtak range) V. Kamaraja said.

Malhotra’s son, Vicky, had told police that his father had undergone an abdomen operation a few days back.

Vicky said his father was taking many medicines everyday and somehow took some wrong medicine Sunday (June 27) that led to his death, police said.

Malhotra had provided CCTV footage of the Special Task Force (STF) members, including its chief Ashok Sheoran, trying to extort money from him at his shop here in March.

Sheoran and seven other members of the STF were arrested after Malhotra’s tip-off. The jeweller’s death will certainly affect the investigation and trial of the case.

After the arrest of the policemen, the Haryana government disbanded the STF.

Sheoran and his colleagues are still in jail and have not been granted bail.