Bihar DGP named in 2012 abduction case accused of intimidating petitioner, victim’s family

Petitioner Abhishek Ranjan says his family was threatened, while victim’s father alleges DGP Gupteshwar Pandey is maligning his elder daughter's character.

Former Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey | ANI Photo

New Delhi: Bihar’s director general of police (DGP), Gupteshwar Pandey, who was examined by the CBI in 2014 in a high-profile abduction case that remains unsolved, has been accused of intimidation by the victim’s family and the main petitioner.

“Two-three months ago, some men turned up at my parents’ home near Muzaffarpur and threatened my family, taking the DGP’s name,” Abhishek Ranjan, the main petitioner in the Supreme Court-monitored abduction case from 2012, told ThePrint.

“On top of that, he is telling people that I am having an affair with the victim’s sister — just to discredit us.”

The victim, Navaruna Chakravarty, was abducted from inside her bedroom in September 2012. The Bengali family of four alleges the abduction was part of a land mafia ploy to purchase the plot on which they were living.

Pandey, who was the IG of Muzaffarpur at the time, was named by the family as an accused. He was subsequently examined by the CBI in the case. Last year, he was appointed the DGP of Bihar.

ThePrint made repeated attempts to reach DGP Pandey through telephone calls but his phone was not reachable. ThePrint also sent a text message and an email for comment but there was no response until the time of publishing this report.

‘Spreading rumours about elder daughter’s character’

Navaruna’s father Atulya Chakravarty said the DGP was “spreading all sorts of rumours” about his elder daughter.

“We have maintained that he is an accused in the case, and yet he was appointed as the DGP of the state… He superseded four officers senior to him, and was appointed,” he said. “Now, he is spreading all sorts of rumours about my elder daughter’s character… He’s telling people that she has an affair with Abhishek,” Chakravarty added.

“We didn’t even know him (Ranjan) before the case… But he was a big help to us since he was in Delhi at the time,” he said. “Now, this DGP is saying they are having an affair… My daughter is in tears.”

Ranjan, who had filed the petition in the Supreme Court in 2012, said he has received multiple threats in the last four-five years, and has been asked by people to not pursue the case.

“I was afraid for my family’s well-being all this while, but now he is trying to assassinate Navaruna’s sister’s character too,” he said. “Her sister has been fighting this endless battle in courts all by herself, and this is what she is being put through. She has been doing what Sabrina did for Jessica (Lall).”

No headway despite case being handed to CBI

A month after Navaruna’s abduction, a skeleton was found in a drain close to the Chakravartys’ residence. A DNA test proved that the skeleton was indeed Navaruna’s.

The case is yet to be closed, even though it was transferred to the CBI five years ago.

“The entire IPS lobby is protecting its own,” Chakravarty added. “We have lost one daughter, and have been dealing with all kinds of heart problems ever since… Our elder daughter has been our pillar of strength, running from court to court, and the top police officer in the state is raising questions on her character to discredit her.”

Pandey, a 1987 batch IPS officer, had also left the service in 2009 to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but was controversially reinstated by the Bihar government less than nine months later.