The former Director of CBI and Director General of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Ranjit Sinha, died of Covid-19 on Friday in the national capital. Sinha breathed his last around 4:30am on Friday, confirmed an ITBP officer. He was 68.
People close to Sinha told News18 that he had tested positive for Covid-19 a day before he passed away. However, there has been no official confirmation on the reason for his death.
News agency PTI, too, had reported officials as saying that he was positive for coronavirus on Thursday night.
Former CBI director AP Singh, whom Sinha succeeded in CBI, expressed grief at his sudden demise. “It is very sad. He was my batchmate and for some time my cadremate too in Bihar. It is extremely shocking,” Singh said.
Sinha, a 1974-batch officer of the Bihar cadre, was the Director General of ITBP force, the Railway Protection Force and served at senior positions in the Central Bureau of Investigation in Patna and Delhi before his appointment as CBI chief in 2012.
His tenure was marked with controversies. The Supreme Court labelled CBI a “caged parrot” under his tenure. In a rare instance, the CBI started probing its own former director after a visitor diary surfaced that showed Sinha regularly meeting coal and 2G scam accused at his official residence.
Sinha had rejected the allegations in an affidavit that he submitted to the apex court. He argued that as a Z-category protectee, he got security cover from the Delhi Police. It was the police, which maintained a register to record his movements and another to log entry of their own personnel, Sinha had claimed.
In April 2017, the anti-corruption agency filed a case against Sinha under the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly scuttling and influencing the probe in the coal scam case. The case is yet to be concluded.
Sinha, after his controversial tenure, had said, ‘Right or wrong – that, time will judge me’.
His former colleagues in the CBI, however, credited him with quick decision-making. “He was bold. Even when he knew the consequences of his decision, he would not hesitate in sticking to that decision,” a former CBI officer said.
ITBP gave Sinha a ceremonial send-off. “Keeping the coronavirus protocols in mind, he was given a send-off. A ceremonial wreath-laying, transferring the body to the Lodhi road crematorium and presence of senior officers was all ensured,” an ITBP spokesperson said.
Sinha is survived by his wife, son and daughter.
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