FRIDAY, MAY 17, 2024
Team Herald
VASCO: The Mormugao Deputy Collector Bhagwant ‘Pratik’ Karmali on Friday submitted a report to the Vasco police asking them to investigate the Shivani Rajawat death case as suspected murder.
Shivani Rajawat (26), who was four-and-half-month pregnant and her mother Jaidevi Chauhan (50) had died due to an alleged blast at a flat situated on the first floor of a building near Rashtroli temple at New Vaddem last month.
The 19- page report submitted by Mormugao Deputy Collector Karmali includes statements of five persons, Shivani’s brother Shubham Singh Chauhan, her husband Anurag Singh, and her in-laws and two persons from the building including the flat owner and a neighbour.
Karmali has asked the police to investigate the case in all angles and details submitted in the report and has mentioned that the victims’ family members had suspected foul play in her death.
It may be recalled that in a tragic incident, Shivani Rajawat and her mother Jaidevi were killed after a vapour blast in their flat due to a LPG cylinder leakage at New Vaddem on November 18. The incident was initially attended as a cylinder blast. However photographic evidence (published by O Heraldo) suggest otherwise conspiracy angle to the entire matter.
Thus after O Heraldo’s comprehensive report with photographs and exclusive conversations with the family members of the two women killed, the police now are on the back foot and backtracking on their hurriedly concluded cylinder blast story.
Shubham Singh Chauhan, the brother of deceased Shivani Rajawat and the son of Jaidevi Chauhan, had named his brother-in-law Anurag Rajawat, a navy officer of “murdering” his closest relatives.
In his letter to the Sub Divisional Magistrate of Mormugao, dated November 25, Shubham Singh Chauhan had alleged that attempts are being made to make the incident look like an accident. He has alleged clearly in his letter, a copy of which is with O Heraldo that it is “a planned murder”.
The letter of Shubham Singh Chauhan was in reply to the SDM Mormugao, a letter dated November 24 who informed Chauhan that Anurag Rajawat (the husband of the deceased Shivani) also wanted to take custody of the body to conduct final rites.
The SDM asked Shubham to inform in writing within four days, whether the body should be handed over for the conduct of last rites, “failing which this office will issue NOC to Anurag Singh Rajawat to take over the possession of the dead body for doing last religious rites.”
