BK Bansal's Suicide Note Said CBI Harassed, Tortured Him & His Family; CBI Denies Onus

A year after top bureaucrat, BK Bansal, and his family committed suicide and blamed five Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers for their deaths in the suicide notes left by them, the CBI has concluded that none of its officials harassed or humiliated the Bansals during an investigation into an alleged kickback paid to the official, reported NDTV.

The CBI in its report says that while the suicide of the Bansal family is “unfortunate”, their officers are not to blame.

Background

19 July 2016 – Former Director General Corporate Affairs BK Bansal was arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 9 lakh from a well-known Mumbai based pharmaceutical company.

22 July 2016 – His 57 -year-old wife Satyabala and his daughter Neha (27) committed suicide. Notes found near the bodies said no one was responsible for their deaths, although it is reported that in the notes they stated that the CBI raids had caused “great humiliation” and they did not want to live after that, reported The Indian Express.

30 August 2016 – BK Bansal was granted bail after the unfortunate events which happened in the family. Special CBI judge Gurdeep Singh also considered the fact that when they committed suicide Bansal was in the jail and suffering from a mental condition.

27th September 2016 – Bansal and his son Yogesh committed suicide in their Madhur Vihar residence. While investigations into the deaths is in its initial stages, Bansal had earlier mentioned to a CBI judge regarding his son’s depression and feared “he too will do what his mother and sister did”.

The suicide note

Bansal had stated in his suicide note that his wife and daughter were pulled by their hair, beaten and abused, which was why they had committed suicide. He also had said that even if he was guilty, why was his family tortured.

He wrote that a top brass CBI, Sanjeev Gautam, had threatened him saying, “Your future generations will be scared of my name.” It also read that the DIG had threatened him saying, “Such things will be done to your wife and daughter that it will send shivers down the spine of those who hear of it”.

He also wrote in the suicide note that two women officers from CBI slapped his wife and daughter while he was in jail. Mr Gautam, who holds the rank of Deputy Inspector General, urged, “Torture these women so much that they are almost dead. These lady officers told my wife that they will chop me and my son into pieces and feed them to dogs,” he wrote. The suicide note also read, “The DIG said he is Amit Shah’s man and no one can harm him. He tortured me a lot.”

There has been hardly any progress in the case till now and the country’s top human rights body and other agencies demanded an explanation for the harassment alleged by the Bansals.

Bansal blamed five CBI official in his suicide note and also one of his neighbours who allegedly tortured, harassed and humiliated him. He said that he wanted a lie detector test of the officers – DIG Sanjeev Gautam, SP Amrita Kaur, SP Rekha Sangwan, IO Harman Singh and also one other person. After Bansal was arrested, his wife along with his son and one more unidentified man were seen visiting as many as 20 bank lockers just days before their suicide, the CBI claims.

While no CBI official has been held responsible, the Central Vigilance Commission, which investigates corruption among government officials, is working on guidelines for interrogation which will be sent in two months to all investigating agencies.