Rohith Vemula death case: Telangana Police to conduct further probe? Here’s what DGP said

The Telangana Director General of Police has said he has decided to conduct further investigation into the January 2016 death of Hyderabad University PhD scholar Rohith Vemula, days after the state police filed a closure report into its investigation into the case. Police claimed that Vemula was not a Dalit and committed suicide in 2016 because he feared his “true caste” would be revealed.

On the suspicions raised by Vemula’s family, the Telangana Director General of Police issued a statement saying that they had decided to investigate the case further.

“Since certain doubts have been raised on the investigation conducted by the mother of deceased Rohith Vemula and others, it has been decided to investigate the matter further. A petition will be filed in the concerned court requesting the Hon’ble Magistrate Case Allow further investigation,” the DGP statement said.

Rohit Vemula death: Telangana Police closed the case, said- ‘Not a Dalit…’

DGP Ravi Gupta said the final report in the case was prepared in 2018 and it was officially submitted to the judicial court on March 21, 2024.

He said, “It is to be mentioned that the investigating officer in the case was the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Madhapur and the final closure report in the case was prepared on the basis of the investigation already conducted last year i.e. November 2023.”

Rohit Vemula’s brother Vemula Raja also said that the DGP will re-investigate the case. Vemula Raja said, “We have given a memorandum to the CM, who has promised a fair and transparent investigation to bring justice to Rohith Vemula. We are confident that the Congress government will reinvestigate the case.”

Vemula, a PhD scholar at Hyderabad Central University, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in a hostel room on January 17, 2016. He was reportedly upset with the disciplinary actions taken against him by the university.

Meanwhile, former BJP MLC N Ramachander Rao, accused in the 2016 Rohith Vemula suicide case, has alleged that the Congress and Left parties had tried to gain political mileage by linking the Hyderabad University student’s death to the saffron party.

On Friday, a group of students protested at the University of Hyderabad and raised slogans against the BJP, Union Minister Smriti Irani and former university vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile, who was also among the accused persons.

In a social media post, the Students Federation of India (SFI) said the closure report filed by the police on the institutional murder of Rohith Vemula is ironic.

It reads, “The Congress government and its police are supporting the BJP’s false narrative by tagging Rohit as not being a Dalit despite lack of evidence.”