Gangtok: The Sikkim police has assured that no stone will be left unturned to investigate the unfortunate death of Namchi government college student Padam Gurung on June 28. The assurance comes after a recent buzz on social media regarding the death with unverified claims and incidents related to the death.
The public have been demanding quick investigation from Sikkim Police, and have questioned why the police have been taking such a long time to investigate the death case.
On July 4 during a visit to Namchi district, Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Golay backed the ‘high powered committee’ of Sikkim Police formed to investigate the death of the student leader.
Golay shared, “The State government has thoroughly conducted the enquiry, until now nothing concrete has been found. The incident that happened is a sad incident, I express my condolences to the family. On July 3, I had ordered DGP Sikkim Police for further enquiry and investigation with the setting up of a high powered committee. So far there has been evidence to prove a suspect. The CCTV footages from nearby locations including the nearby hotel where the student was, all such concerned parties are being summoned to the Police Station to record their statements. Even the friends of Padam Gurung have been called for questioning. We are investigating and we will not leave the culprit”.
The high-powered police committee headed by special DGP (Law & Order) Akshay Sachdeva, assisted by DIG Range Namchi Hari Chettri and DIG Range Gangtok Tashi Wangyal was formulated to supervise the smooth investigation on the death of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) president. The committee led by Sachdeva visited Namchi police station on Wednesday.
On Thursday, DIG Range Namchi Hari Chettri told EastMojo, “Even before the high-powered police committee was constituted, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was already monitoring and supervising the investigation of Padam Gurung’s death case.
The high-powered police committee, yesterday, during its visit to Namchi, had a meeting with the SIT and has taken a detailed account of the progress so far. Tasks have been assigned to the investigating team at Namchi, it was informed.
Namchi district DIG then added saying, “The victim’s family are grieving and they are expecting their doubts to be cleared. Also, news reports quoted by various media organisations need to be clarified. Over the days, many alleged names and incidents have come to light regarding the incident. These only came to light after the incident happened so we are looking at every possible aspect, which includes statements, videos and CCTV footage. We need to analyse everything carefully and then come to a logical conclusion. We have definitely made progress, but we still need some time to come to a conclusion. We are leaving no stones unturned”.
The DIG Range Namchi further informed that meetings regarding the death case are being conducted on a regular basis. He further said that the investigation process has sped up.
On Wednesday, an argument between the public and Sikkim Police had taken place which led to the transfer of Namchi SP Manish Kr Verma as SP (CID) in Gangtok headquarters. Mangan SP Tshering Namgyal Gyatso was posted as Namchi SP, as per the recent transfer order.
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“The public were agitated due to the delay in investigation, but SP Verma was doing his job. The new Namchi SP Tshering Gyatso has been directed to interrogate all suspects thoroughly. But we can surely say that the transfer of SP will not hamper or delay the investigation. The case is being monitored and supervised by senior officials’ up to the DGP,” said Chettri.
Regarding the accusation of fights between college students, Chettri stated that such fights are normal during college elections, and the college administration is looking into it.
Also Read | Padam Gurung’s death: Family suspects foul play, Sikkim police forms SIT