A 17-year-old girl, who had eloped with her 22-year-old married neighbour from Bhanjpur in Godda district two months ago, entered a poison pact with her lover in police custody at Ranchi's Argora thana on Tuesday morning.
The couple - rounded up on Monday evening from their rented love pad in the state capital following a long-pending abduction complaint lodged by the girl's mother at Mahagama police station back home - died on their way to hospital.
The double suicide has prompted SSP Kuldeep Dwivedi to suspend two policemen and a policewoman for dereliction of duty, and order an inquiry under city SP Kishore Kaushal to find out how the poisonous substance in a pouch made its way to a thana.
According to sources in police, the minor girl was found senseless in the chamber of ASI Kanak Kumari around 7am while her lover, Jafar Alam, was sprawling motionless inside the lock-up right outside that room.
"Surveillance camera feeds show that the girl ate something from a pouch and then walked out of the ASI's room to offer the same to her mate. Then, she went back. She was a minor and not an accused; so, she was only in protective custody and not in lock-up," the source said.
SSP Dwivedi confirmed that ASIs Indrabhusan Mishra and Sushil Kumar Singh, who were on duty when the suicide drama unfolded, had been suspended along with the lady officer who was in charge of the girl.
"It has come to my knowledge that the lady ASI was busy offering her morning prayers when the incident took place. Three persons have been put under suspension and I have asked the city SP to find out where the poison came from and how," the SSP said.
City SP Kaushal said the couple was rushed to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Bariatu, 9km from Argora thana, but was declared brought dead. "We are still trying to ascertain how the poison reached the police station," he added.
ASIs Mishra and Singh could not be contacted for their comments.
ASI Kanak Kumari expressed shock and surprise. "I had never expected to be suspended just two years before my retirement. I had frisked the girl properly when a police team handed her over to me last (Monday) night. I too would like to know where she got the poison from," the officer said.
Alam and his girlfriend were taken into custody by a team led by DSP (headquarters) Raja Kumar Mitra from an asbestos-roofed house owned by one Albert Tirkey at Tungri Tola in Argora.
A neighbour said the couple had been living on rent for a month. "They behaved like husband-wife. The girl applied vermilion and the youth sported tilak. They said they had come to appear for the JPSC examinations," the neighbour said, adding that a private security guard had brokered the accommodation for the couple.
Mahagama OC Renu Gupta said the girl had eloped with Alam on January 15. "Her widowed mother registered a case of abduction on January 17. The matter had even reached the chief minister. The girl's family is poor. She has a younger brother. Alam is married and his wife is pregnant," the officer filled in the gaps over phone from Godda.
A five-member team of doctors, headed by Sanjay Kumar, completed post-mortem at RIMS by Tuesday evening in the presence of executive magistrate Shalini Vijay and a videographer.
"Though the autopsy report will be available in a day or two, preliminary observation suggests that the girl was roughly pulled by her hair before she died. Bloodstains were noticed at the roots," the magistrate said.
Finger nails of the girl and the youth were found blue, suggesting death by poisoning. "To ascertain the nature of poison, viscera has been preserved for forensic study," the magistrate added.
State Congress president Deepika Pandey Singh, meanwhile, blamed police for the double suicide. "The incident has exposed poor policing in the state like never before. It calls for thorough investigations," she said.
