New Delhi:
Nearly a week after 34-year-old techie Atul Subhash died by suicide, accusing his estranged wife Nikita and her family members of harassment, several files in a Google Drive link he shared before his death have mysteriously gone missing. The files missing from the shared Google Drive include his 24-page suicide note and a letter titled ‘To Milords’ that criticised the justice system.
While law enforcement authorities have not spoken about this yet, several social media users have alleged a cover-up attempt in the case that has grabbed national headlines and sparked massive outrage. The shared drive now shows a poem titled Death Knows No Fear, a letter addressed to the President and a declaration in which he said he was “not guilty” of any charge levelled by Nikita — these files were present earlier too.
Several social media posts have alleged a “clean-up” to destroy evidence and urged Bengaluru police to investigate the matter. Some users, who had saved the files earlier, have shared them again on multiple platforms for others to access. Some have also accused law enforcement authorities of getting Google to remove the files from the drive Atul shared before his death. Neither police nor Google have responded to this so far.
Atul Subhash was found dead at his Bengaluru home last Monday. A detailed note, with ‘justice is due’ written on top, was found at his home. Before his death, he shared the note and other material in a Google Drive with open access, and recorded an 80-minute video, narrating his experience of a long-drawn legal fight.
Accusing his estranged wife Nikita, her mother Nisha Singhania, brother Anurag Singhania and uncle Sushil Singhania of harassment and extortion, Atul said Nikita filed false cases of cruelty against him and his family members. He said she had demanded a huge sum of Rs 3 crore to settle the case and used their four-year-old to extort him. Atul said the court had asked him to pay Nikita Rs 80,000 monthly as maintenance for herself and her son, but she wanted a sum of Rs 2 lakh. He also slammed the justice system and alleged that it was biased towards women in such cases.
Following his death, his brother Bikas Kumar filed an abetment to suicide case. Nikita, her mother Nisha Singhania and brother Anurag Singhania have been arrested, while her uncle Sushil is on the run. The three accused were produced in court and remanded in judicial custody for two weeks.
Atul’s family has now asked where his son was and demanded that he be handed over to them.