36 hours after IAS Ashish Dahiya’s death in a swimming pool: 10 unanswered questions

Ashish Dahiya as an IPS earlier

ABOUT 36 hours after 2016 batch Jammu and Kashmir cadre IAS Ashish Dahiya died in a swimming pool in New Delhi-based Foreign Service Institute, many a question still gets unanswered, possibly prompting his senior colleagues and IAS Association avoiding social media post of messages including condolence messages (till Tuesday noon when this article is written). As the police has begun investigation, and is waiting for the autopsy results from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), there are shockwaves across the cadre after it loses two promising colleagues in less than a fortnight — the other being 2007 batch Karnataka cadre IAS Anurag Tiwari who was found dead outside Lucknow’s VIP guest house while the officer had a morning walk. Here are 10 un-answered questions on Ashish Dahiya’s death in the swimming pool:

1. Family members have said, Ashish Dahiya is a good swimmer and have earlier swam several kilometres in Bhakra Nangal Dam in Himachal Pradesh. So, how such a good swimmer could die in a swimming pool?

2. As swimming is mandatory for all IPS officers and Dahiya was a former deputy superintendent of police in Himachal before getting selected as IAS, isn’t it obvious that he knew swimming?

3. Was the officer or his friends under the influence of liquor?

4. How did the woman officer slip into the pool? Did she also go for swimming or was she just present there?

5. Wasn’t there an instructor in the swimming pool? Where was she/he at the time of the tragedy?

6. Is there a timing for the entry or exit of the swimming pool? If yes, how come the swimming pool was open at mid-night?

7. Wasn’t there a CCTV at the club of the institute? If yes, was it functional? What does the footage tell?

8. Should the probe be handled over to the CBI, as demanded by the family members?

9. Was there a brawl at the party? Police tell a section of media that they have been investigating that angle as well.

10. What are the versions of Dahiya’s friends? Are they telling the police the same sequence of events?