Agartala, July 27 — Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and former Tripura Minister Sudip Roy Barman on Sunday reiterated the party's demand for a judicial inquiry, monitored by a sitting judge of the Tripura High Court, to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the "mysterious" death of a serving Director General of Police (DGP) Anurag.
The body of Anurag, a 1994-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Tripura cadre, was found under mysterious circumstances in the washroom attached to his official chamber at the State Police Headquarters in Agartala on July 20.
On July 24, the Tripura Police constituted a three-member team, led by West Tripura Superintendent of Police Namit Pathak, to probe the 'mysterious' death of the former DGP.
Alleging that Anurag's death was "a deep-rooted conspiracy and not a mere case of suicide", Roy Barman, who is also a Congress MLA, questioned the state government's reluctance to order a judicial probe monitored by a sitting judge of the Tripura High Court.
"What is the problem in ordering a judicial inquiry by a sitting High Court judge? If the government has nothing to hide, it should not hesitate to order such a probe," Roy Barman asked while addressing the media.
Accompanied by Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee President Ashish Kumar Saha and senior party leader Prasanta Sen Chowdhury, the former Tripura Minister alleged that the state government was reluctant to order a judicial inquiry to suppress the actual facts and circumstances surrounding the death.
"To suppress the original facts and reasons behind the death, the government is reluctant to conduct a judicial inquiry," the Congress leader alleged.
Urging the Tripura High Court to take suo motu cognisance of the case, the former Minister said that despite several serious incidents in the recent past, the court had not initiated suo motu proceedings.
"The mysterious death of Tripura's Police Chief is not a political issue. The death of the state's senior-most, honest, sincere, dedicated and dynamic police officer is a matter of utmost concern, not only for Tripura but also for the country," Roy Barman added.
Claiming that the circumstances surrounding the death were highly suspicious, the former Minister said: "We believe it is a case of murder. The people of the state, as well as police personnel and other government officials, want the truth behind the death of serving DGP Anurag to come out. If the state government, led by Chief Minister Manik Saha, suppresses such a serious matter, questions will inevitably be raised against it."
Anurag was cremated with full state honours at his ancestral town of Baraut in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat district on July 22.
His son, Abhishek, lit the funeral pyre at the cremation ground near Bawli Chungi on the Delhi-Saharanpur Highway in the presence of family members, senior police officers and hundreds of mourners.
The opposition CPI-M, CPI and several other political parties have also demanded a judicial inquiry, monitored by a sitting judge of the Tripura High Court, to determine the circumstances and reasons behind the death of the state's senior-most IPS officer.
The Left parties and the Congress had earlier organised separate protest rallies in Tripura, pressing for a High Court-monitored judicial investigation into the incident.
Anurag took charge as Tripura's DGP on May 17, 2025, succeeding Amitabh Ranjan, a 1988-batch IPS officer.
Before assuming office as the state's police chief, he served as the Tripura Director General of Police (Intelligence).
During his distinguished career, Anurag also served with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo and held several key assignments in central agencies, including as Joint Director and Additional Director in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), besides serving in the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
The senior IPS officer also led the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to investigate the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
His tenure as Tripura Director General of Police was scheduled to continue until May 17, 2027.