Patna: The 26-year-old Indian Navy personnel Suraj Kumar Dubey, who was declared dead at INHS Naval hospital at Aswini in Mumbai on Saturday, was cremated with military honours at his village in Palamu's Chainpur today.
Earlier,his body was brought to the Ranchi airport from Mumbai, where officers and jawans of the Indian Army paid floral wreaths and later the body was taken to his ancestral house by road.
A large number of people, including public health engineering department minister Mithilesh Thakur, local MLAs Bhanu Pratap Shahi and Alok Chaurasiya participated in the funeral procession.
A candle light procession was organised from Redma Chauk to the Police Stadium as well. Participants demanded a CBI probe into the kidnapping and the subsequent murder of the Navyman.
BJP MP from Palamu and former director general of Jharkhand Police, Vishnu Dayal Ram, said that he has written a letter to Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, suggesting CBI investigation into the entire incident as Dubey was kidnapped by armed men at Chennai airport, kept in Chennai for three days, and taken to the jungles of Palghar 1,500 km away only to be set on fire.
The Indian Navy had issued a statement saying Dubey, who was on leave from the unit INS Agrani, was found with 90 per cent burns on February 5 at Palghar. He was taken to INHS Aswini in Mumbai, where doctors declared him dead on Saturday.
Palghar SP has informed the Dubey family that following receipt of information of a burning body in the Gholwad jungles, the cops went there and brought him to Mumbai. He told the family that ten teams of officers were investigating the case.
Mithilesh Dubey, the father of Suraj, said that his son had left to join his duties at Coimbatore on January 30 morning from Ranchi. His son's cellphone was getting a signal even till 9.15 PM at Chennai airport. After the night, there was no link between the son and the father.
MIthilesh said that he went to the Chainpur police station to lodge a complaint over his missing son, but the police refused to entertain it saying that only the Chennai police can register his complaint since the incident took place in Chennai.
Then, he sent his son-in-law Amrendra Tiwary to Chennai. However, he also returned disappointed as the Chennai Police said that since the navy man was from Palamu, an FIR could only be registered there.
Suraj was kidnapped by three people, including one with a gun, outside the Chennai airport. He was pushed into a waiting SUV and kept in Chennai for three days. A ransom of Rs 10 lakh was demanded from his family.
Later,he was taken to Palghar, 1500 km away from Chennai and put on fire, according to his dying declaration recorded by the police.
Suraj's father said that as soon as his son exited the Chennai airport, he was kidnapped for ransom. He regretted the fact that neither the Palamu Police nor the Chennai Police had acted on his complaints .
Nishikant Dubey, BJP MP from Godda-Deoghar constituency, also joined the campaign for a CBI probe as the crime was committed in two different states in phases.
