The probe into the death of Sushant Singh Rajput seems to have evolved into a battle of one-upmanship between two police forces—the Mumbai Police and Bihar Police.
An IPS officer from Bihar, who had landed in Mumbai on Sunday for leading the SIT investigating the case, was quarantined under the COVID-19 regulations in force in the city, a move that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called "inappropriate and forcible". Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey had claimed that Vinay Tiwari, the IPS officer from Patna, who is in Mumbai to probe the case after Rajput's father lodged an FIR, has been "forcibly quarantined" by civic authorities in the metropolis.
However, Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh defended the decision, saying the COVID-19 protocols necessitated the move. According to news agency ANI, the commissioner said coronavirus situation in Mumbai is coming under control after a lot of hard work and precautionary measures are being taken. “Anybody who travels by air excluding those who will return in a fixed time period, have to undergo home-quarantine necessarily,” he was quoted as saying.
Singh, who had earlier said there is no question of non-cooperation with the Bihar Police team which is probing the case, said investing team was give a car by the DG office. As a few COVID-19 cases were reported at IPS Mess in Worli, the probe team wasn't allotted a room there, but a room was offered at main mess of SRPF in Goregoan, he said, and added that the allegations of non-cooperation are false.
“They didn't ask us for car. They asked for documents of case. We told them it's our jurisdiction. They should share how they're coming in our jurisdiction. We're taking legal opinion to examine it,” the news agency quoted him as saying.
Earlier, responding to claims that Sushant Singh Rajput's family was unhappy with the Mumbai Police's probe, he had said, "Sushant's father, sister and brother-in-law's statements were recorded on June 16. At that moment, they didn't raise any suspicion neither they complained about any lapse in our investigation."
