A senior police official said that Tripura Governor Indra Sena Reddy Nallu, Chief Minister Manik Saha, several state ministers, Chief Secretary Jitendra Kumar Sinha, Home Secretary Abhishek Singh, acting Director General of Police G.S. Rao, and many senior civil, police and security officials paid their last respects to Anurag.
Tributes were first paid at the Police Headquarters and later at the Civil Secretariat in the New Capital Complex.
The official said that after the homage ceremonies, Anurag’s body, accompanied by his family members and senior police officials, was flown via Odisha and Delhi to his native place at Baraut in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat district, where his last rites would be performed on Wednesday morning.
The Tripura government declared a one-day state mourning on Tuesday as a mark of respect to DGP Anurag, a 1994-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Tripura cadre.
According to police officials, after Anurag’s body was found in a hanging position in the bathroom attached to his official chamber at the Police Headquarters on Monday, he was immediately taken to the Agartala Government Medical College and Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.
Head of the Department of Medicine at the Agartala Government Medical College and Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital, Dr Pradip Bhowmik, had said that Anurag was brought to the hospital without any signs of life and was declared dead after doctors examined all his vital parameters.
“We have sent Anurag’s body for post-mortem examination. The exact cause of death can only be confirmed after the post-mortem report is received,” Dr Bhowmik told the media.
Chief Minister Manik Saha, who also holds the Home portfolio, accompanied by Chief Secretary Jitendra Kumar Sinha and Home Secretary Abhishek Singh, immediately visited the Police Headquarters after the incident and held discussions with senior police officials.
Acting Director General of Police G.S. Rao on Tuesday said that a separate investigation team is likely to be constituted to probe Anurag's “unnatural death”.
Police, however, have already initiated a routine inquiry into the death, he told the media.
Five senior ministers, led by Agriculture and Power Minister Ratan Lal Nath, also visited the hospital and met Anurag's wife to convey their condolences.
While the ministers refrained from commenting on the cause of Anurag's death, they expressed profound grief and described him as an upright, honest and highly efficient police officer. However, all the opposition parties, including Congress and the CPI(M), have separately demanded a judicial inquiry into the DGP’s death.
Former minister and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Sudip Roy Barman told the media that only a judicial probe monitored by a sitting judge of the Tripura High Court would help uncover the actual circumstances and reasons behind the death of the state's senior-most IPS officer.
Former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, Leader of Opposition (LoP) Jitendra Choudhury, and former minister and Tripura Left Front Convener Manik Dey also visited the hospital to offer their condolences and meet the bereaved family.
LoP Jitendra Choudhury, who is also the CPI(M) Tripura state Secretary and a former minister, demanded a judicial inquiry into Anurag's death under the supervision of the Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court.
Both Choudhury and former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said that Anurag was not only a sincere and honest officer but also handled the law and order situation in Tripura with efficiency after taking over as the state's police chief.
Anurag took charge as Tripura’s Director General of Police on May 17 last year, succeeding Amitabh Ranjan, a 1988-batch IPS officer.
Before assuming charge as the DGP, Anurag served as Director General of Police (Intelligence), Tripura.
During his over three-decade-long career in Tripura, he served as the Sub-Divisional Police Officer of Longtharai Valley from 1995 and later as Superintendent of Police of the erstwhile undivided West and South Tripura districts.
He also held the posts of Superintendent of Police, Special Branch, and Assistant Inspector General of Police (Headquarters).
During 2003-04, Anurag served with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo. Between 2005 and 2013, he was on central deputation, serving as Joint Director and Additional Director in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
After returning from central deputation, he served as Inspector General of Police (Law and Order), Tripura, from 2013 to 2016.
From 2016 to 2023, the IPS officer was again on central deputation, serving as Inspector General (Research and Correctional Administration) in the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), Inspector General (Personnel) in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and later as Joint Director and Additional Director in the CBI.
Anurag also served as Chairman of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to probe the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
He was awarded the Police Medal for Meritorious Service and the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service.
On September 18, 2023, Anurag assumed charge as Tripura's Additional Director General of Police and was subsequently posted as Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order).
He was promoted and appointed Director General of Police (Intelligence), with additional charge of Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), with effect from January 2024.
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