Author: Manoj Prasad
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: January 23, 2007
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/21543.html
Introduction: Autopsy report says death due
to poison. Police also claim evidence linking the deceased to Jharkhand Dy
CM Stephen Marandi
The recovery of the body of a man believed
to be a Christian preacher from the Church of North India graveyard near Kantatoli
on January 12 has all the signs of becoming a political hot potato. The autopsy
report has established his death as being due to poison. The police also claim
they have evidence linking the deceased to Jharkhand Deputy Chief Minister
Stephen Marandi.
Identifying the dead man as Suresh Thakre,
purportedly a preacher with the CNI, the police said that he had recently
bought a flat at Tapovan Apartments in the city. Among the papers recovered
from the flat on January 18 were receipt books and letterheads of a charitable
trust, Grace Ministry of India. A probe is on to ascertain details about the
trust and its members.
The BJP led by Arjun Munda has demanded a
CBI probe into the death of Thakre, aged in his 30s. "The state police
has its limitations. Let the premier investigative agency find out how the
preacher died, and if he committed suicide, what prompted him to," said
Munda.
The police have recovered a photograph showing
Thakre flanked by two unidentified women and Jharkhand's deputy chief minister.
The police also said Marandi's personal secretary Mukesh was present at the
funeral of Thakre.
Since the autopsy report had attributed Thakre's
death to intake of poison, the police suspect this to be a case of suicide.
"We recovered a bottle from near the graveyard where his body was found,"
Ranchi SSP N.P. Singh said. "He was married, hailed from Gujarat and
was baptised recently," said Singh, who also disclosed that Thakre seemed
to be living without his wife, believed to be still in Gujarat.
Marandi said he did not know anything about
the cause of the preacher's death. "He was close to my family as a preacher.
The pundits and pujaris of different religions maintained relations with us,"
Marandi said.
manoj.prasad@expressindia.com
