Bureaucrat BK Bansal's Suicide Note Says CBI Harassed, Abused, Tortured

New Delhi: A bureaucrat who committed suicide along with his entire family has in a note blamed the CBI directly for harassment and accused senior officials of abusing and torturing his wife and daughter. The group of officers named by him will now be investigated by the CBI, the agency has said.  

BK Bansal, who hanged himself with his son in their Delhi house yesterday, wrote in his suicide note that a top CBI officer, Sanjeev Gautam, bragged, "Your future generations will be scared of my name."  When asked to comment, Mr Gautam, who is in charge of the CBI's Anti-Corruption Branch in Delhi, told NDTV that he is in a meeting.

Two months ago, Mr Bansal's wife and daughter had hanged themselves while he was in jail.

Mr Bansal, 59, was arrested on July 17 while he was a senior officer in the Corporate Affairs Ministry on charges of accepting a nine-lakh bribe from a Mumbai firm in exchange for dropping an inquiry against it. Two days later, his wife Satyabala and daughter Neha were found dead. In their suicide notes, they wrote of being humiliated by the CBI during raids at their home to uncover evidence. The agency has said it discovered cash that could not be accounted for in the house.
 In his death letter, Mr Bansal wrote that while he was in jail, two women officers from the CBI slapped his wife and daughter. Mr Gautam, who holds the rank of Deputy Inspector General, urged, "Torture these women so much that they are almost dead." Mr Bansal was reportedly informed of this by his neighbours after he was granted bail. "These lady officers told my wife that they will chop me and my son into pieces and feed them to dogs," he wrote.

The suicide note says that Mr Gautam boasted of his proximity to a top BJP politician. The reference has been seized by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has demanded an explanation.  BJP spokesperson Shaina NC said the allegation in the suicide letter is "unsubstantiated." "Do not drag the BJP into something in which it is not involved," she said.

Supporters of Mr Kejriwal pointed out on social media that the CBI boss named in the suicide note also handled the raids on the Chief Minister's top aide who has been accused of corruption. Mr Kejriwal has said the case is fabricated by the centre as part of its campaign to malign his government.