Kolkata: A writ petition claiming that the police in the state of West Bengal are operating as a parallel force of the ruling Trinamool Congress and praying for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the death of Dipankar Saha, a resident of Azadgarh in south Kolkata, has been filed in the Calcutta High Court.
The Kolkata Police has ‘closed’ three of its personnel, including a sergeant and a civic police volunteer in this case. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has also been set up by the state.
Rajib Saha, brother of the deceased, has maintained in his petition filed through advocate Phiroze Edulji that such action and investigation is a sham.
According to him, policemen forcibly took away his brother Dipankar from their house on July 31 and brutally tortured him at an undisclosed location.
The policemen who took away Dipankar for ‘questioning’ possessed no documents to justify his detention.
The action by the Kolkata Police against the three accused — Sergeant Amitava Tamang, Constable Taimur Ali and Civic Police Volunteer Aftab Mondol — from the Golf Green Police Station, clearly indicates that Dipankar’s detention was illegal.
The trio have also been charged under Section 304 of the IPC (Culpable Homicide not Amounting to Murder).
This is also a clear indication that Dipankar was roughed up. Rajib, through his petition, has questioned why the three have not been arrested or charged under Section 302 of the IPC for murder.
The Kolkata Police is clearly in a fix. The post mortem report has clearly stated severe injuries on Dipankar’s buttocks that could cause internal reactions.
There were several bruises all over his body.
The police, however, told the media that the external injuries were not life threatening and Dipankar, a 34-year-old, died due to liver and heart ailments.
This statement itself is an admittance that Dipankar was tortured by policemen.
Rajib, the petitioner, has maintained that he is member of an Opposition in the state and organised a street corner meeting against alleged corruption by ruling party members on July 27.
On July 31, his brother Dipankar – a small time trader – was dragged away by two policemen from their home.
Their mother Arati Saha demanded to see an arrest memo or other document but there were none. The perpetrators were Ali and Mondol, working under the instructions of Tamang.
According to the petition, Dipankar returned home nearly 10 hours after he was taken away.
He was severely bruised all over but refused to lodge a complaint against the torturers as he had been threatened that his family would be harmed.
Even after he fell ill and went to the hospital for check-ups, he hid his scars in fright.
On August 4, Dipankar complained of severe stomach ache and uneasiness. By the time he was taken to hospital, Dipankar had died. All written applications by his mother for details about his death went unheard.
(IANS)
