80-Year-Old Woman Declared Dead By CBI Appears Before Court

An 80-year-old woman declared dead by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) appeared before the court. The woman declared dead is Badami Devi, a key witness in the murder of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan on May 13, 2016, in Siwan, Bihar.

Badami Devi claimed that the CBI filed her death report in court on May 24. She said that “When I learnt that the CBI had filed my death report in the court, I went into shock. It was disheartening and painful for me”.

Devi, the woman declared dead by the CBI proceeded to appear before the MP-MLA Muzaffarpur court with her Voter Identity card, Aadhaar card, and Pan card. She appeared before Judge Punit Kumar Garg, and the court then issued a show-cause notice to the officers of the CBI involved in the case. The court also asked CBI to file a clarification on what grounds it had submitted the death verification report in court.

Journalist Rajdeo Ranjan, 42, was the bureau chief of the Hindustan newspaper in Siwan. He was shot dead at a fruit market on May 13, 2016.

Bihar woman declared dead

The CBI sought summons for examination of the witness Badami Devi which was issued by the court. Later, on May 24,  CBI declared her dead and submitted her death verification report to the court.

In Badami Devi’s affidavit, she said that “I was made a witness in the case but no CBI official met me. Instead, it declared me dead, which I got to know through newspapers.” She added that “it points to a conspiracy”.

Devi’s petitioner counsel Sharad Sinha said that “In the murder of Rajdeo Ranjan, the FIR was registered against 8 persons including late MP Mohammad Shahabuddin. According to the FIR, Shahabuddin’s close associate Laddan Mian was said to be given the contract to kill Rajdeo Ranjan.”

Sinha described Devi as “the key witness of this case” and added that CBI had submitted her death report in court without verification. He called it a “clear and deep conspiracy of the accused persons and investigators of CBI helping the accused through such a false death report”.

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