Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 25 Feb: The state police will now treat the death of former Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) undersec-retary Tumi Gangkak as a murder case. It had earlier said that a case of unnatural death had been registered
Gangkak was found dead under mysterious circumstances near the Ganga Lake area, along the Jote-Poma road, on Friday. His body was found hanging, with his wrists and Achilles tendons of both legs slit.
Postmortem on the body was conducted at the TRIHMS and the autopsy report is likely to be out on Monday.
Earlier, some citizens tried to bury the deceased in the premises of the APPSC here, following which a meeting was called by the state government.
Addressing reporters after the meeting, the nephew of the deceased, Dr Goto Gangkak, said that the demands of the family were addressed during the meeting.
He said that the state government has assured to fast-track the case.
The police have detained Tapun Messar and Bomchu Krong, and said that the earlier unnatural death case registered by the police will now be registered as a murder case.
A special police team will be assigned to handle the case and submit the report within a week.
The body of the deceased will be taken to his village for the last rites.
According to sources, Gangkak was summoned by the CBI to its office at around 3:30 pm on Thursday, after which he went missing, and was later found dead.
The family members lodged an FIR at the Chimpu police station here.
According to the family, the deceased was called by SIC officials for interrogation, after which the incident occurred.
Earlier, the Kargu Kardi Welfare Society (KKWS) had said that the body of Gangkak would be buried in the premises of the APPSC unless Special Investigation Cell officials Tapun Messar and Bomchu Krong were arrested by the state police, “and other demands being fulfilled.”
People from all walks of life on Saturday joined a protest organised by the KKWS near the APPSC office here, demanding the arrest of the two SIC officials.
Earlier on Saturday, speaking to reporters, a member of the KKWS said that, prior to his death, Gangkak had received a call from SIC SI Bomchu Krong, who asked him to come to the CBI office. Subsequently, the deceased sent a message in the KKWS WhatsApp group.
The message read: “My dear esteemed members, I have never been involved in APPSC paper leakage. I am innocent but I am being targeted as was the asssistnat controller of examinations.”
The KKWS member said that, following the message, Gangkak’s phone was switched off. “The family was of the perception that he was detained by either the CBI or the state police. However, later the body was found at the trijunction of Zoo Road,” he said.
“Anyone who saw the body can say without any hesitation that it was a pre-planned murder and not suicide. The wrist of the deceased was with cut marks and the clothes torn up,” the KKWS member said, adding that the deceased was targeted because he was a key witness in the APPSC cash-for-job scam.
Meanwhile, Galo Welfare Society (GWS) general secretary Nyadar Loya, on behalf of the society, demanded that the state government immediately arrest the officials mentioned in the FIR.
