'Jharkhand cops took away my phone'

Slain journalist Nirupama Pathak's boyfriend interrogated for five hours by the Koderma police in the Capital; his mobile seized

Slain journalist Nirupama Pathak's boyfriend interrogated for five hours by the Koderma police in the Capital; his mobile seized

As the plot of Nirupama Pathak's murder case thickens, the police are taking quicker steps to reach the vital clues.u00a0On Thursday, Jharkhand police arrived in Delhi to question Nirupama's boyfriend, Priyabhanshu Ranjan, a Delhi-based journalist.


In this photo taken from Priyabhanshu's Facebook profile, he can be seen
along with Nirupama in happier times

Around 5.30 pm, Priyabhanshu was detained by the Jharkhand police and was taken to the special staff south office of Delhi police in Pushp Vihar. There the officials interrogated Priyabhanshu for five hours and seized his mobile phone to check Nirupama's call details and messages.

"The police questioned me about my relations with Nirupama and asked me the possible reasons behind her murder. Also, they asked me whether her pregnancy was the cause of her death. The interrogation carried for five hours and the police seized my cell phone," said Priyabhanshu.

"The family members of Nirupama had given her mobile phone without the SIM card. The card can play anu00a0 important role in solving the mystery as we can access to her call details and the messages she would have sent the day before her death. That is the reason we have seized Priyabhanshu's phone in order to know their conversation on the day the girl was killed. The last message was sent around 5.39 am by Nirupama," said a Jharkhand police officer.

Parental guidance

On March 2, Nirupama received a letter from her father Dharmesh Pathak in which he had asked her not to marry Priyabhanshu. She should not marry someone who doesn't follow the "Sanatan Dharma", Dharmesh had written, adding such marriage does not last long. Besides, her relation with her parents, relatives and the society will be severed forever. He had advised Nirupama to think twice before marrying a man from different caste.

Meanwhile in Koderma, Nirupama's brothers --Samrendra and Salilu00a0-- have been detained by the police and her maternal uncle, too, is being questioned.

Earlier the police had arrested her mother Subha in the case. On Wednesday, the case took a fresh twist after it was found that the medical board that carried out the postmortem, did not preserve Nirupama's viscera samples.

According to sources, Nirupama had decided to secretly marry Priyabhanshu at an Arya Samaj temple on March 6 because her family members were opposed to the marriage. Nirupama was a former student of Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) and was working with a business daily in the Capital.

A police officer said if need arises, Priyabhanshu will be taken to Koderma for further interrogation.