Anand Toppo death case: Hockey player Birendra Lakra appears before police

Bhubaneswar: International hockey player Birendra Lakra today appeared before the Infocity police here in connection with the death of his friend Anand Toppo on February 28.

A senior official of the Commissionerate Police quizzed Lakra in connection with the death case, sources said.

Toppo was found hanging at a flat in Infocity area of the capital city, just 10 days after his wedding.

Toppo’s family members had claimed that Lakra and his friend Manjeet Tete were present at the flat on the fateful day. They had accused Lakra of murdering Toppo and lodged a police complaint.

Toppo’s family filed a petition in the HC and sought a Crime Branch probe into the incident after the inspector in-charge (IIC) of Infocity Police Station in Bhubaneswar allegedly refused to register an FIR in this regard.

The police registered an FIR against Lakra, who is also a DSP-rank officer in Odisha police, only after the HC directed the Bhubaneswar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) to look into the reasons behind the non-registration of the FIR by the Infocity police and submit a report within seven days.

In its December 6 order, the HC has directed the DCP to personally monitor the investigation of the death case and submit a final report in this regard within three months.

The court also directed the Police Commissioner of Bhubaneswar not to assign any field posting to the IIC of Infocity police station for a year.

This apart, the Police Commissioner has been asked to send the IIC concerned for sensitization training at Biju Patnaik Police Academy in Bhubaneswar for a month.