GUWAHATI: The Assam government on Thursday decided to transfer the suspected death by suicide of a 26-year-old assistant engineer of the Public Works Department to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), following the contents of a note she allegedly left behind.
The state cabinet took the decision during a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Earlier, the state government had formed a seven-member Special Investigation Team to probe the case.
Joshita Das was found dead at her rented accommodation in western Assam’s Bongaigaon district on July 22. She allegedly died by suicide under intense pressure from two of her seniors to manipulate the estimates of a project and clear pending bills before the completion of the work.
Joshita had allegedly left behind a note, narrating her ordeal and naming an engineer and a sub-divisional officer. The police arrested the duo along with another person. Details about the third individual were not known.
Stating that the case demands a thorough investigation due to public concern, Sarma told the media that the cabinet decided to hand it over to the CBI after realising its seriousness.
He said the site of the incident was earlier videographed and examined by investigators and officials of the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory. He added that the inquest, autopsy, analysis of call detail records, and seizures had also been completed.
The woman’s death has triggered public outrage, with people demanding the arrest of the accused persons.
Meanwhile, the cabinet approved the inclusion of the Ahom, Matak, Moran, Chutia, Gorkha, tea garden and Adivasi communities in the list of protected classes of persons in the Tirap tribal belt—those who have been occupying the land prior to 2011.
The state government said this inclusion would enable land settlement for more than 20,000 individuals of these communities residing in the Tirap tribal belt.
