Rohith Vemula Not Dalit: Cops In Closure Report, Clean Chit To All Accused

The closure report was filed on March 21 but has come to light just 10 days before all 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana will vote in the fourth phase on May 13.

Eight years after massive protests and a political controversy erupted over his death by suicide, forcing the Modi government to clarify that it was not anti-Dalit, the Telangana Police has filed a closure report in the Rohith Vemula case. In the report, the police have not only said that the University of Hyderabad student was not from the Scheduled Castes and his certificate was forged but also that he died by suicide because he feared being exposed.

The accused in the case included then University of Hyderabad vice-chancellor Appa Rao and BJP leaders like then Secunderabad MP and Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, MLC N Ramchender Rao, and Union Minister Smriti Irani, who held the education portfolio at the time, in the case. All of them have been absolved of all charges.

The closure report was filed on March 21 but has come to light just 10 days before all 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana will vote in the fourth phase on May 13. Telangana has a Congress government now and was ruled by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi before that. The Congress had supported the protests seeking justice after the research scholar's death and senior party leader Rahul Gandhi had also raised the issue in Parliament.