"Culprits Will Be Punished...," Telangana CM Revanth Reddy On Rohith Vemula Case

Hyderabad : Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on Thursday said that a "detailed inquiry" will be done in the death case of the PhD scholar Rohith Vemula and asserted that the culprits will be punished.

"The closure report was given in 2019 itself. It came before the Court in recent days. We reopened the matter as soon as we came to know. The Crime Branch, Crime Investigation Department (CB-CID), is investigating the matter. A detailed inquiry will be done and the culprits will be punished," the Telangana CM told.

Rohith Vemula died by suicide in January 2016 allegedly upset over disciplinary actions taken against him by Hyderabad Central University where he was pursuing a PhD.

Earlier on May 4, Rohith Vemula's family met with the Telangana Chief Minister and submitted a representation urging the Congress government in the state to reinvestigate the case.

Radhika Vemula, mother of Rohith Vemula said that the Chief Minister has assured that a fair enquiry will be conducted again adding that "this government will deliver us justice."

Rohith Vemula's brother Vemula Raja said that the Telangana Director General of Police has said that they will a petition in the High Court urging reinvestigation.

"After the filing of the Closure Report, the Telangana DGP has stated that they are going to reinvestigate the case and they will file a petition in the High Court. We have given a representation to the CM who has promised us a fair and transparent investigation to deliver justice to Rohith Vemula. We believe that the Congress government will reinvestigate the case," Vemula Raja said.

Earlier, it was reported that the Telangana Police had filed a closure report, stating that Vemula did not belong to the SC community and died by suicide. The closure was filed by the investigation officer on March 21.

However, the Telangana Director General of Police said they have decided to conduct a further investigation into the death of the research scholar in January 2016.

The decision came days after the state police filed a closure report in their investigation into the matter.

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