A 58-year-old man, one of the 30 accused in the toppers scam, died after falling from the third floor of his house during questioning by the Special Investigation Team looking into the case. While police said Diwakar Prasad lost balance and fell, his son alleged that Prasad was pushed by four policemen against whom a case has now been lodged.

Prasad was accused of supplying answersheets for Class XII exams to Bihar School Examination Board even though he did not have the contract to do so. The SIT had seized 3,000 answersheets from a printing press at Didarganj near Patna on 20 November. Prasad, along his three partners, had fled the spot.

On Wednesday night, six policemen reached Prasad’s Panchwati Nagar residence under Bahadurpur police station limits. Two policemen stayed at the ground floor while four went up to question Prasad. Vijram Kumar, Prasad’s son, said, “As policemen had been shouting, I went to the third floor to check. Before I could reach, my father was lying on the ground floor, unconscious. We suspect he was pushed by policemen.” Prasad was taken to a private hospital where he was declared dead.

Patna SSP Manu Maharaj, however, said: “We have lodged a case against policemen and are studying CCTV footage”. The BJP demanded a high-level probe into the incident. “Since the versions of the police and relatives differ, there should be a high-level probe,” said former deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi.

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