Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said he spoke to minister TS Singh Deo. (File)
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday said the government can order a probe into the death of a relative of his cabinet colleague T S Singh Deo if the family wanted it.
Veerbhadra Pratap Singh (42), vice-president of Lundra Janpad Panchayat in Surguja district, was found dead near railway tracks in Bilaspur district on Friday.
Police suspect that he might have fallen accidentally from the Durg-Ambikapur Express on which he was travelling.
The opposition BJP has, however, demanded a judicial probe saying the death took place under suspicious circumstances.
Asked about the demand, Mr Baghel told reporters in Raipur, "I spoke to T S Singh Deo yesterday and he did not express this kind of suspicion about the incident. But if the family wants, we don't have any problem ordering investigation." Veerbhadra Pratap Singh alias Sachin Baba, a relative of Health Minister Singh Deo, belonged to the Dhaulpur wing of the erstwhile Surguja royal family.
He was travelling to Ambikapur from Raipur by the Durg-Ambikapur Express on Thursday night and it seems that he fell accidentally from the moving train and died of injuries, Bilaspur Senior Superintendent of Police Parul Mathur had said earlier.
BJP MLA Ajay Chandrakar said 'Sachin' (as he was known) had been arrested in connection with the alleged attack on the convoy of Congress MLA Brihaspat Singh in July 2021.
It could very well be a political murder, Chandrakar said, demanding that Chief Minister Baghel order probe by a sitting High Court judge.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)