Aligarh: The family members of Aligarh
Muslim University`s gay professor Srinivas Ramchander Siras,
whose death has sparked a controversy, Saturday met the police
and demanded a probe to ascertain if he was poisoned or
committed suicide.
"Family members of Siras, including his wife, met us
this afternoon and demanded an impartial inquiry in a written
complaint. They have also requested us to ascertain whether
Siras committed suicide or was poinsoned," Superintendent of
Police Maan Singh Chauhan said.
He said the viscera of Siras had been sent to Forensic
Science Laboratory (FLS) in Agra for test to ascertain the
exact cause of death.
"We are trying to get the FSL report at the earliest,"
the SP said, adding that "as of now no conclusion could be
drawn without having an expert report from Agra".
Earlier, a case of criminal trespass and other sections
of the IPC was lodged against seven persons--four senior AMU
officials and three mediapersons for allegedly intruding into
the privacy of the professor and harassing him.
The case was registered yesterday on an order by the
Chief Judicial Magistrate who was approached by Siras a day
before his death on April 5.
Siras had approached the court seeking its directive
against AMU officials and mediapersons for intruding his
privacy, harassing and blackmailing him.
"Proctor of AMU Zubair Khan, Prof NAK Durrani, Media
Advisor to the vice chancellor, PRO Rahat Abrar and three
mediapersons belonging to a private news channel have been
named in the FIR," Chauhan said.
He said the police would quiz the AMU officials and the
mediapersons.
The SP said police are trying to trace Siras` cellphone
which has gone missing. "We are trying to trace the missing
cellphone".
The cellphone was said to be lying near the feet of Siras
on Wednesday when the police broke open the door of his room
which was locked from inside.
Chauhan said samples of food found in the kitchen at the
time of recovery over Siras` body have been sent for
examination.
He said the police did not rule out any possibility
pertaining to the cause of his death as the postmortem report
was inconclusive.
The body of 62-year-old Siras, a reader in Modern
Indian Languages, was found on April 7 lying on the bed in his
private apartment outside the university.
Siras, who hailed from Maharashtra and taught Marathi,
was placed under suspension by AMU Vice Chancellor P K Abdul
Aziz on charges of homosexuality at his house inside the
campus after a sting operation by a television channel which
exposed him having sexual relations with a rickshaw puller.
Last week, the Allahabad High Court had revoked the
suspension of Siras and ordered his reinstatement after he
filed an appeal against the university action.
PTI
