Saurabh Kumar (engineer)

Saurabh Kumar (1983–2015) was an engineering officer with Indian Railways, hailed as one of several whistleblowers^[1] against corruption in India. He died under mysterious circumstances in Kharagpur after informing his family that he had received death threats for resisting pressure to approve tenders.^[2]

Saurabh Kumar
Born	1983
Died	September 23, 2015(2015-09-23) (aged 31–32) Kharagpur, West Bengal, India
Education	BIT Sindri
Occupation	Indian Railways officer
Known for	Whistleblower against corruption in Indian Railways

A graduate of BIT Sindri (2008), Kumar was posted as the purchase officer in Railway stores, handling large-volume tenders for railway scrap. He confided to his friends and family that he was under pressure to approve tenders by "politically affiliated mafia members."^[3] On 23 September 2015, his body, already in a state of decomposition, was found at his official quarters in Kharagpur.^[4] Reports stated that the body had head injuries and profound bleeding.^[2] Initially, the police refused to file a foul play FIR^[5] and declared it as a case of death by snakebite.^[6]

However, friends formed the group #JusticeForSaurabh on social media.^[7] After mounting pressure on the internet, along with TV images showing most of the bedsheet soaked in blood,^[8] the railway minister, Suresh Prabhu, ordered a probe,^[9] and the police agreed to register an FIR for murder.^[10][11]

The killing is under investigation^[12] but the internet outcry continues, pointing to the police reluctance to register the murder as evidence that the investigation was sidetracked at the behest of the rail mafia.^[2] In the days after the probe was announced, the group have tried to get political backing for a stricter probe,^[3] and a candlelight vigil was organized at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi by the political group, Swaraj Abhiyan, seeking early justice.^[13]