Bihar BJP leader’s death during protest march caused by heart ailments: Autopsy report

Patna: The Patna district administration has claimed that the post-mortem examination on the body of BJP leader Vijay Kumar Singh, who died during the party's Bihar Vidhan Sabha march last week, revealed that his death was caused by heart disease and other complications related to it.

The authorities had said that on July 13, the party’s Jehanabad district general secretary Vijay Singh was brought in an unconscious state to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) where he died, and there were no injury marks on his body.

The BJP, however, maintained that Singh died following a lathi charge and alleged that the post-mortem report was “manipulated”.

“The postmortem report that was made available by Patna Medical College Hospital. A histopathological examination was conducted by the institute to ascertain the exact cause of death of Singh.

“After a detailed analysis of the report, the medical board concluded that the death of Singh was caused due to heart disease and other complications related to it,” the district administration said in a statement late on Thursday night.

The statement added that it was also clear from the CCTV footage that the BJP functionary fainted between 1:22 pm and 1:27 pm in Chajju Bagh area, while the lathi charge occurred at Dak Bungalow crossing area.

The BJP, however, termed the postmortem examination report ‘manipulated’ and demanded a high-level independent enquiry into it.

“Vijay Singh died due to police lathi charge. The post-mortem report is totally manipulated. We demand a high-level independent enquiry into the medical report prepared by the PMCH,” Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Vijay Kumar Sinha, told PTI.

He alleged that the post-mortem examination report of Singh was prepared following the directions of the top brass of the state health department.

“This is not the first case. Officials of the health department concluded two murder cases in Vaishali and Lakhisarai as cases of heart ailments,” alleged Sinha.

Senior RJD leader and Bihar Deputy CM, Tejashwi Yadav, holds the portfolio of health.

Reacting to Sinha’s allegations, RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwary said, “The post-mortem report has established that Singh did not die due to police lathi-charge. The charge levelled by the BJP was baseless. Now, BJP leaders should stop politicising the death of Singh. We all are saddened over his death.”

The Vidhan Sabha march, which was organised in support of agitations against the state government’s teacher recruitment policy, commenced from the Gandhi Maidan and was stopped a couple of kilometres away from the assembly premises.

Besides batons, the police used water cannons and also took recourse to bursting tear gas shells to disperse the BJP workers who tried to breach the barricades.