UP: Nagar panchayat chairman surrenders in woman PCS officer suicide case in Ballia

VARANASI: Bhim Gupta, a nagar panchayat chairman, on Wednesday surrendered before the court of judicial magistrate in Ballia in the case of death by suicide of PCS officer Manimanjari Rai.
Inspector Kotwali (Ballia) Vipin Singh said that following the surrender by Gupta, he was sent to district jail on 14-day judicial remand. Earlier, on Tuesday, another accused in the case, Akhilesh Kumar, who worked as a computer operator in the MNP office, was also arrested near the roadways bus stand.He said that Rai’s driver Chandan was already arrested in July while one clerk Vinod had got anticipatory bail from the court. Now, only one more accused and former executive officer Sanjay Roa is absconding.
Manmanjari was found hanging from the ceiling of her room in Awas Vikas Colony, where she dwelt on rent, on July 7. It was the first posting of the 30-year-old PCS officer in Ballia, where she had been given charge of EO of MNP.
In this connection Manimanjari’s brother Vijayanand Rai of Ghazipur had lodged an FIR for abetment of suicide Bhim Gupta, tax clerk Vinod Singh, computer operators Akhilesh, former EO Sanjay Rao, her driver Chandan and some unidentified persons with Kotwali police station.
In his complaint Rai alleged that the MNP chairman Bhim Gupta, some contractors and office employees in his nexus were pressuring her to adopt unfair means for allotting contracts of development works and also for payments. In view of the same ground realities Manimanjari met the district magistrate and requested to attach her with district headquarters. However, when she resumed the charge after a gap of three months she became aware that many payments had been issued with the help of her fake signatures.