Sudip Roy Barman Seeks High Court Probe into DGP Death

By  Firstdespatch Desk   Jul 26, 2026

Agartala, July 26 (FD) Senior Congress leader and MLA Sudip Roy Barman on Sunday reiterated the party's demand for a judicial inquiry, supervised by a sitting judge of the Tripura High Court, into the unnatural death of Director General of Police (DGP) Anurag Dhankhar, contending that several questions surrounding the incident remain unanswered.

Addressing a press conference at the Congress Bhavan, Roy Barman said the party was dissatisfied with the state government's decision to entrust the investigation to a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by West Tripura Superintendent of Police Namit Pathak.

"We are demanding a judicial probe by a sitting judge of the Tripura High Court into the unnatural death of the DGP. We made this demand after considering the circumstances under which his body was recovered," he said.

Dhankhar, who had earlier led the CBI investigation into the alleged ₹13,000-crore Punjab National Bank fraud involving diamantaire Nirav Modi and the reinvestigation into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, was found hanging in the washroom attached to his chamber at the State Police Headquarters in Agartala on July 20.

Roy Barman claimed he had seen the DGP's body at the morgue and alleged that there were no visible external injuries ordinarily associated with such cases. He argued that an SIT headed by an SP-rank officer would not be able to dispel the doubts surrounding the incident and maintained that only a judicial inquiry could ensure a Describing the constitution of the SIT as an "eyewash", the Congress leader also alleged that the "honest DGP" had faced harassment over certain issues in the days preceding his death, though he did not elaborate.

Roy Barman further expressed disappointment over what he described as the absence of suo motu intervention by the Tripura High Court in recent years, stating that the judiciary has a vital role in safeguarding citizens' rights when other democratic institutions come under strain.

The state government has constituted a three-member SIT to investigate the case. The outcome of the investigation is awaited. FD JK