Ranchi: Case filed against second wife of deceased chemist

RANCHI: A day after Rakesh Ranjan, a medicine shop owner and government witness in the Remdesvir black marketing case, died under mysterious circumstances, police have registered a case against his second wife Preeti Ranjan and started a probe into the matter.The Argora Police registered a case on Sunday against Preeti Ranjan under Section 302 of the IPC based on a written complaint filed by Ronit Ranjan, the son of deceased Rakesh Ranjan. On Monday morning, police personnel visited the spot and collected CCTV footage from the residential society. Talking to TOI, Argora police station in-charge Binod Kumar said, “A police team has visited the residential society in Pundag area and started investigations into the case. The statements of a few witnesses, including Preeti Ranjan who has been accused by the son of the deceased, have been collected.”On being asked whether any arrest have been made in the case, Kumar said the investigation is in the preliminary stage and that no arrests have been made yet.Earlier on Sunday, Ronit had accused his stepmother Preeti Ranjan of foul play in his father’s death. He claimed that his father had called him hours before his death and said that he didn’t wanted to stay at the flat as they (Preeti and others) would kill him.On being enquired about Ronit’s claims, Kumar said, “The son of the deceased has mentioned in his complaint that his father had dialed him hours before he was found dead. But we cannot confirm the same yet. He has to come to the police station to record his statement and submit evidence, if any.”Meanwhile, sources at the residential society, where Rakesh used to live, said police have sealed the three rooms of the flat on Sunday. None has been allowed to move any document or file from the flat, they added.Meanwhile, the family members of Rakesh Ranjan, including his sister, his first wife Rekha Ranjan took the body to Patna for cremation after an autopsy was completed at Rims, Ranchi on Sunday evening. The autopsy report is awaited.