Homosexual professor's death: Family meets police, demands probe

Family members of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) professor Srinivas Ramchander Siras, whose death has sparked a controversy, today met the police here and demanded a probe to ascertain if he was poisoned or committed suicide.

"Family members of Siras, including his wife, met us this afternoon and demanded an impartial inquiry in a written complaint," Aligarh superintendent of police Maan Singh Chauhan told the Press Trust of India. "They have also requested us to ascertain whether Siras committed suicide or was poisoned."

He said the viscera of Siras had been sent to the forensic science laboratory (FSL) in Agra to ascertain the cause of death.

"We are trying to get the FSL report at the earliest," the officer said. "No conclusion can be drawn without an expert report from Agra."

Earlier, a case of criminal trespass and other sections of the Indian Penal Code was lodged against seven persons — four senior AMU officials and three media persons, for allegedly intruding on the professor's privacy and harassing him.

The case was registered yesterday on an order of the chief judicial magistrate who was approached by Siras a day before his death, on April 5.

Siras had approached the court seeking a directive against AMU officials and journalists for violating his privacy and harassing and blackmailing him.

"Proctor of AMU Zubair Khan, professor NAK Durrani, media adviser to the vice-chancellor, PRO Rahat Abrar, and three
mediapersons belonging to a private news channel have been named in the FIR," Chauhan said.

He said the police would question the AMU officials and the media persons.

The officer said police were trying to trace Siras's cellphone which had gone missing. The cellphone was said to be lying near his feet on Wednesday when police broke open the door of his room, which was locked from inside.

Chauhan said samples of food found in the kitchen at the time of recovery have been sent for examination. He said the police did not rule out any possibility pertaining to the cause of his death as the post-mortem report was inconclusive.

The corpse of Siras, 62, a reader in modern Indian languages, was found on April 7 lying on the bed in his private apartment outside the university.

Siras, who hailed from Maharashtra and taught Marathi, was placed under suspension by AMU vice-chancellor PK Abdul Aziz on charges of homosexuality at his house inside the campus after a sting operation by a television channel which exposed him having sex with a rickshaw puller.

Last week, the Allahabad high court had revoked Siras's suspension and ordered his reinstatement after he filed an appeal against the university action.