Kamlapati Tripathi's family lands in trouble over mysterious death of Vimla Rastogi

Rastogi: cold shoulderd?Power invariably attracts controversy. The family of former Union minister Kamlapati Tripathi proved this once again late last month when Vimla Rastogi, 45, mother of a son, fell ill in the Tripathi household and died soon after under mysterious circumstances.And now there isn't a street corner in Varanasi, Allahabad or Lucknow where the issue has not been avidly discussed. The stepping in of the state's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has only whetted public curiosity.Rastogi had been a regular visitor to the Tripathi household in Varanasi for more than a decade. According to Lokpati Tripathi, Kamlapati's eldest son and Uttar Pradesh's health minister, Rastogi came in touch with the family when she campaigned actively during the Assembly by-elections in 1969. As time went by, she grew close to Mangalapati, the youngest son, a businessman, who is married and has three children.Together they floated the Yuva Seva Sanstha, a social welfare organisation. A nationalised bank provided a loan of Rs 100,000. But the scheme ran into rough weather and later folded up, and the bank applied pressure to recover money. Again when Mangalapati started a thresher unit in Basti, in northern Uttar Pradesh, Rastogi managed the unit.Liaison: The two started drifting apart after more than half a dozen years together. The brothers including Mayapati and their wives were not too happy with this liaison. Affected by this, Manglapati started cold-shouldering Rastogi about two years ago. Rastogi's husband Shyam Kishore, 49, a moneylender in Lucknow, who encouraged her to work in the Sanstha, recalls: "During this period Vimla was often ill and lost some of her zest for life." However, she continued to be a regular visitor to the Tripathi household.Rastogi came to Aurangabad House in Varanasi, a 20-room red stone mansion and seat of the Tripathi family, on October 19, apparently quite upset. She went to Delhi on October 21 -possibly in search of Mangalapati who had left a week earlier but returned within a day. Says Lokpati: "All sorts of people, known and unknown, visit our house. There is no check on their movements."He says that on the morning of October 24, as he was going to have tea, he heard someone groaning in an adjacent room. It was Rastogi. Dr M. K. Gupta, a child specialist at the Government Shri Shiv Prasad (SSP) Hospital, who happened to be present, examined her and suggested her immediate hospitalisation. Lokpati asked his manager, Narsingh Lal, to lake Rastogi to the hospital. The time was about eight in the morning.Lal drove her down to the SSP Hospital, admitted her in the emergency ward, and gave his and Rastogi's name. He left soon after. By evening, when the rumour about an unconscious woman being admitted was doing the rounds of the city, Lokpati had already informed her family in Lucknow. Meanwhile, Lal was asked to get the police into the picture. Rastogi's son, Rajen, arrived the following morning, and was by his mother's bedside when she died at noon.Contradictions: The post mortem report, besides showing that Rastogi had taken an overdose of drugs, revealed scratches and signs of blows on the arms, legs and face. Lokpati denies that she was beaten. The viscera has now been sent to Agra to determine whether it was poisoning or an overdose of sleeping pills that killed her. While Shyam Kishore dismisses the possibility of foul play, he feels: "Vimla could not have committed suicide. She was a bold woman." He is full of praise for the Tripathi family, which he says behaved well even after Rastogi's death.There are, however, several contradictions in the story. While Lokpati says that they came to know of Rastogi's illness on the morning of October 24, his wife Chandra has stated otherwise. She discovered it the evening before, when Rastogi had reportedly pleaded to stay on in Aurangabad House indefinitely. Secondly, Lokpati's contention is that being the health minister, doctors at the SSP Hospital were needlessly secretive, thus permitting political parties to make capital out of the episode. But, according to Medical Superintendent R. C. Tewari, none of the doctors was even aware that Rastogi had been rushed from the Tripathi household. Thirdly, there are questions about why Lal got in touch with the police only hours after admitting Rastogi? Finally it is reported that in the days preceding her death, Rastogi seemed almost hysterical and was desperate to meet Mangalapati. No effort was made to assist her. Along with her strange behaviour the rumour mill has it that, during her stay in Varanasi, she lost some vital business documents. Amid doubts over whether a thorough investigation can be carried out into an incident which concerns a powerful political family, the state Home Minister, Mrs S.K. Bakshi, has said that there was no question of the case being hushed up.The case has now become politicised, as was demonstrated when Congress(I) and opposition workers clashed on the Hospital premises. Says Mayapati: "The incident has cast a slur on the Tripathi family and the opposition parties are trying to make capital gain." And in the midst of political gusts, powerful people and half-truths, the mystery, as in any good thriller, will lake some time to unravel.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Oct 25, 2013 13:22 IST--- ENDS ---

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Kamlapati Tripathi's family lands in trouble over mysterious death of Vimla Rastogi

Power invariably attracts controversy. The family of former Union minister Kamlapati Tripathi proved this once again late last month when Vimla Rastogi, 45, mother of a son, fell ill in the Tripathi household and died soon after under mysterious circumstances.

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