Patna & Mumbai police clash over Sushant probe

The turf war between Bihar Police and Mumbai Police over the probe into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput is getting more serious. The Bihar police chief has accused the Mumbai Police of forcibly quarantining an officer sent from Bihar to Mumbai to lead the probe.

On Twitter, the Bihar police chief has alleged that a senior IPS official was “forcibly quarantined” by civic authorities in Mumbai.

“IPS officer Vinay Tiwari reached Mumbai today from Patna on official duty to lead the police team there but he has been forcibly quarantined by BMC officials at 11pm today,” tweeted Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) Gupteshwar. He also posted a picture of the officer’s hand that has a quarantine stamp showing the isolation period until 15 August.

The BMC said that Tiwari has been quarantined as per the present guidelines for domestic arrivals at Mumbai Airport. Tiwari reached Mumbai to assist junior officers already in the city.

Reacting to the officer’s quarantine, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said, “Whatever happened to him (Vinay Tiwari) is not right. It is not political. Bihar Police is carrying out its duty. Our DGP will speak to them.”

Meanwhile, Mumbai Police sources say that while they have offered full cooperation to the team from Bihar. They said that the visiting team failed to follow the protocols while conducting investigations in the jurisdiction of another force.

Sushant Singh Rajput, 34, was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on 14 June. The Bihar police started a parallel investigation after the actor’s family filed a case in Patna. This investigation is focused on charges that money was transferred from Sushant’s bank account.

Mumbai Police has so far recorded statements of nearly 40 people, including those from the actor’s family, his cook as well as people from the film industry including filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.

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