Created by Vijaykumar96
Last edited March 2, 2026


Anurag Tewari
Deputy Commissioner of Bidar
In office
November 2015 – October 2016
Commissioner, Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Bengaluru
In office
October 2016 – 17 May 2017
Personal details
Born(1981-05-17)17 May 1981[1]
Died17 May 2017(2017-05-17) (aged 36)[1]
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India[2]
Alma materIndian Institute of Technology (IIT)
ProfessionCivil servant

Anurag Tewari was an Indian administrative service officer of 2007 batch, Karnataka cadre. As Deputy Commissioner of Bidar from November 2015 to October 2016, he designed a ground water recharge scheme funded through the MGNREGA. The Government of Karnataka adopted this model statewide as the "Raita Belaku" (Light of the Farmer) program in 2017.[3]

Early life and education[edit | edit source]

Anurag Tewari was born in 1981.[1] He holds an engineer degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), he cleared the UPSC civil service examination.[4]

Career[edit | edit source]

Tewari was commissioned in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 2007.[1]

Deputy Commissioner of Bidar[edit | edit source]

In November 2015, Tewari was appointed Deputy Commissioner of Bidar.[5][6] During this period, he conducted regular public visits and held administrative meeting called "Development Days".[7] He launched a social media initiative #askDC for public grievance redressal.[8]

Tewari implemented a scheme to deepen farm ponds using funds from the MGNREGA for groundwater recharge.[3] The Government of Karnataka subsequently adopted this program statewide as "Raitha Belaku" (Light of the Farmers) in 2017.[3]

Commissioner posting[edit | edit source]

In October 2016, Tewari was posted as Commissioner of the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs in Bengaluru.[1] He held this position until his death on 17 May 2017.[9]

Death and investigation[edit | edit source]

Discovery and initial response[edit | edit source]

Tewari was found dead on a roadside near the Meera Bai State Guest House in Hazratganj, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh on 17 May 2017, his 36th birthday.[1] Police described the circumstances as suspicious.[1] A post-mortem examination determined the cause of death to be asphyxiation.[2]

Murder case registration[edit | edit source]

On 22 May 2017, the Hazratganj police registered a First Information Report under Indian penal code section 302 (murder) against unknown persons, based on a complaint filed by Tewari's brother Mayank Tewari.[10] Tewari's family alleged he had been under pressure from superiors and that he had expressed concerns about his safety two months before his death.[11] The Uttar Pradesh government recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation following a meeting with Yogi Adityanath.[12][13]

A Uttar Pradesh minister stated in the assembly that Tewari was preparing to expose financial irregularities in the Karnataka Food Department worth 2,000 crore. The Karnataka government denied this claim.[10][9] A special investigation team visited Tewari's Bengaluru office and residence in June 2017 to collect evidence.[14]

CBI investigation[edit | edit source]

The CBI took over the investigation in July 2017 and registered a murder case under Indian Penal Code Sections 302 and 201.[15]

In February 2019, the CBI filed a closure report concluding that Tewari died in an accidental fall resulting in asphyxiation, ruling out both suicide and homicide.[16] Tewari's family rejected this finding. The CBI filed a second closure report in January 2021.[17]

In September 2022, a special CBI court in Lucknow rejected both closure reports on a protest petition filed by Mayank Tewari.[17] The court ruled that the closure reports could not be accepted, as of October 2022, the case remained officially open.[17]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "On Birthday, IAS Officer Found Dead By Roadside. 'Suspicious' Say Cops". NDTV. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "IAS officer found dead in Lucknow". The Hindu. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Tewari's work inspired govt to start 'Raitha Belaku'". Deccan Herald. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  4. "Anurag Tewari: An IAS officer to be remembered". Bangalore Mirror. March 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  5. Desai, Rishikesh Bahadur (12 June 2015). "Anurag Tewari is new DC of Bidar district". The Hindu. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  6. "Anurag Tewari is Bidar Deputy Commissioner". The Hindu. 15 June 2015. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  7. Desai, Rishikesh Bahadur (30 December 2015). "Bidar DC to go on weekly rounds". The Hindu. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  8. "Administration to speed up development works in Bidar". The Hindu. 2 November 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  9. 9.0 9.1 K. T., Vinobha (19 May 2017). "IAS officer Anurag Tewari hardly worked for 38 days in Karnataka: Minister U T Khader". Times of India. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  10. 10.0 10.1 "FIR registered in the case of IAS officer Anurag Tewari's death". Times of India. 24 May 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  11. "Murder case registered in IAS officer Anurag Tiwari's death, family says he was under pressure". Hindustan Times. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  12. "IAS officer's death: UP government recommends CBI probe". Times of India. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  13. "After registering murder case, govt orders CBI probe into IAS officer Anurag Tewari's death". The News Minute. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  14. "Anurag Tewari case: SIT visits his office, residence in Bengaluru". The Hindu. 1 June 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  15. Chakraborty, Pathikrit (17 June 2017). "IAS officer's death: CBI registers murder case". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  16. "CBI files closure report, says IAS officer died due to accidental fall". Hindustan Times. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 "Special court rejects CBI closure report on Karnataka IAS officer's death". Business Standard. IANS. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2026.