Vinay Tiwari: Bihar's 'Singham' in Mumbai to probe Sushant case

With almost 50 days passing since Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai flat, and the Mumbai Police yet to make any major breakthrough, the Bihar Police on Sunday deputed one of its senior officers -- Vinay Tiwari, to assist its team probing the actor's death.

A four-member team of the Bihar Police in Mumbai has claimed that Mumbai Police were not co-operating with it in its investigation into the "Chhichhore" actor's death.

Bihar's DGP Gupteshwar Pandey told IANS on Sunday that Tiwari, the SP, City, Patna would be joined by other senior police officers from Bihar, if the need arises.

The fresh development comes against the backdrop of a reported standoff between Mumbai and Bihar police forces over the investigation.

Tiwari, a resident of Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh and an IPS officer of the 2015 batch, is seen a versatile individual.

In 2019, he was appointed the new Superintendent of Police, City, of Patna. Earlier, he was posted as Sadar SDPO in Gopalganj where he was popularly known as "Singham".

Tiwari had come into the limelight recently, but, for a different reason, after he wrote a poem on coronavirus pandemic on his Twitter handle.

Sharing the poem through a video, the IPS officer wrote in Hindi: "We are all distressed by the horrific epidemic. The tragedy of the same pandemic and its conquest is imagined through this poem. May all of you get some strength to fight this epidemic and I get your blessings and love..."

Besides, Tiwari is also a mathematician and is also writing a book titled "Mathematics and Principle of Life".

On the death of senior Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan, Tiwari paid him a tribute through a short poem composed in Hindi.

Tiwari, who hails from a poor background, qualified for government service to fulfil his father's dream.

After his graduation in engineering from IIT-BHU (Varanasi), he began preparing for the UPSC examinations in Delhi despite getting job offers.

Tiwari, who cleared the UPSC exams in his second attempt, still offers tips to the candidates preparing for civil services through his blog - "dreamstrugglebepositive".

Sushant was found dead at his Bandra apartment in Mumbai on June 14 following which Mumbai Police began probing the case.

The late actor's father, K.K. Singh on July 25 filed an FIR against his son's girlfriend and Bollywood actor Rhea Chakraborty, and her family members for allegedly abetting his son's suicide.

A team of Bihar Police then went to Mumbai to look into Singh's allegations.

Meanwhile, Rhea has filed an application in the Supreme Court to transfer the entire case in Mumbai instead of Patna. Sushant's father, through his lawyer Vikas Singh, has also filed a counter-petition to keep the case in Patna. The case is to be heard on August 5.

Currently, Rhea is absconding. The Bihar Police team had also visited her flat but could not find her there. After this, Pandey admitted that the Bihar Police have not been able to 'locate' her.

With Rhea having released a video in which she claimed her innocence, the DGP said that instead of declaring herself innocent on video, she should record her statement before the police.

"Rhea must clear her side. We do not have any enmity with her, but if she continues to run in this way, then it will be difficult for her. I assure you that the Bihar Police are investigating at their own level and the day we get the evidence against the culprits, we will drag them out even from hell. The Bihar Police are fully capable of this task," he asserted.

(Jayant K. Singh can be contacted at jayant.k@ians.in)

Vinay Tiwari

Tags: Cinema, Showbiz