HP High Court: CBI will investigate the suspicious death of Haryana youth Vaibhav Yadav in Manikaran, impartial investigation will be ensured
Shimla, December 13: The investigation of the entire case of the death of Vaibhav Yadav, a young man from Haryana, under suspicious circumstances in Manikaran Valley of Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh has now been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has questioned the investigation of the state police and has given instructions to transfer the investigation of the case to the CBI.
In the hearing held on Thursday, the High Court made a strict comment and expressed displeasure over the functioning of the Kullu Police and ordered the CBI to take immediate action to ensure a fair investigation of the case.
Along with this, Himachal Police was also ordered to hand over the entire record of the entire case of Vaibhav Yadav’s death under suspicious circumstances to the CBI within three days.
The entire case of Vaibhav Yadav’s death under suspicious circumstances
In fact, Vaibhav Yadav, a youth from Haryana, had come to visit Kullu with his three friends – Kushagra, Shashank and Ritika Mittal. On December 9, 2023, Vaibhav died under suspicious circumstances while roaming in Tosh Valley of Kasol.
After preliminary investigation, the Kullu police considered it a non-suspicious case and handed over the body to the family on December 11.
However, Vaibhav Yadav’s family wrote a letter to the then DGP of Himachal Pradesh Sanjay Kundu on December 14, calling the death suspicious and demanding a fair investigation into the matter.
In the letter, Vaibhav Yadav’s family had alleged that the Kullu police had been negligent in investigating the matter. The family said that the Kullu police did not interrogate the friends and hotel staff in their presence. The family also claimed that the behavior of Vaibhav Yadav’s three friends was abnormal at the time of the incident. The father of one of the friends had told over the phone that the three friends were vomiting and were not feeling well during the incident. Additionally, the family alleged that a trainee IPS officer intervened in the case as one of the friends was his relative. This intervention affected the investigation by the Kullu police.
Investigation revealed that the four friends had booked two rooms in a guest house in Tosh. On the evening of December 9, all of them went to a nearby bakery and then to a cafe. Meanwhile, Vaibhav Yadav’s health started deteriorating and he returned to the guest house. Later, when his friends returned, they found Vaibhav Yadav fallen in the fields near the guest house. According to the guest house manager, Vaibhav had fallen from the fourth floor. Vaibhav’s samples tested in Mandi revealed traces of cannabis, but no alcohol consumption. The post-mortem report stated the cause of death as severe head injury and bleeding.
High Court’s strong comments
The Himachal High Court said that this case is a clear example of dereliction of duty and violation of law by police officials. The High Court remarked that if the FIR was registered on time, the police would have got a chance to conduct a thorough investigation and the truth of the case could have come out. The court also said that on February 14, 2024, Vaibhav’s father had suspected murder, but the police did not register a case despite being informed about the crime. The court termed it as a biased action of the police and ordered the state Home Secretary to investigate the conduct of the police officers.
The High Court has directed the CBI SP in Shimla to immediately register a case in this matter and start investigation. Also, Kullu Police has been ordered to hand over all the records related to the case to the CBI without any delay. In this case, Vaibhav’s family had filed a petition in the High Court seeking justice. Considering the seriousness of the matter, the court has transferred it to the CBI.
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