October 5, 2007
'Tainted' Cops Removed in Rizwanur Case, More Heads to Roll Soon
Kolkata
Bowing to intense pressure from the public and the Left Front, the
Buddhadeb Bhattacharya government in West Bengal removed two police
officers from their posts Friday and hinted at similar action
against three senior IPS officers, including the Kolkata Police
Commissioner, for their alleged involvement in the mysterious death
of Muslim youth Rizwanur Rahaman.
The state government removed Assistant Commissioner Sukanta
Chakraborty and Sub-Inspector Krishnendu Das of the anti-rowdy
section of Kolkata Police from their posts Friday for allegedly
intimidating Rizwanur to opt out of his marriage with Priyanka Todi,
daughter of prominent industrialist Ashok Todi.
State Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy hinted that the government
may also remove two deputy commissioners of Kolkata Police whose
names have cropped up in the case.
"If need be, we will remove the two senior IPS officers -- Deputy
Commissioner (headquarters) Gyanwant Singh and Deputy Commissioner
(detective department) Ajay Kumar -- whose names have figured in the
case. We will take legal advice in the matter and proceed
accordingly," Roy told reporters at the state secretariat here.
He, however, said "no decision" had been taken about Police
Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee, whose name had also figured in the
case.
Rizwanur, a 30-year-old graphic designer, whose body was found
beside a railway track here on Sep 21 with his head smashed, had
mentioned the names of Gyanwant Singh and Ajay Kumar, besides police
officers Sukanta Chakraborty and Krishnendu Das as the ones who had
harassed him.
Both Chakraborty and Das had told Criminal Investigation Department
(CID) officers that they had merely followed instructions from their
superiors while hounding Rizwanur and his wife Priyanka to end their
marriage.
Earlier in the day, veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)
leader Jyoti Basu said the government would take suitable action
against the Police Commissioner only after Calcutta High Court heard
the case.
"Heads will roll and even Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee may
not be spared. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya is awaiting the
hearing in the case by Calcutta High Court. Action will be taken
against the police commissioner after that. We are waiting to see if
the court orders a CBI probe into the incident," Basu said.
The court has postponed the hearing till Monday.
Basu also slammed Mukherjee's statement at a press conference last
week that the police would interfere in cases where a marriage had
taken place between families who are poles apart in social standing.
"The police commissioner's remark is in very bad taste. He should
never have said that. What he has said is his own view and the
government does not subscribe to it. The chief minister has listened
to his statement on television and is very perturbed over it."
The government's action against the police officers follows intense
pressure from senior CPI-M politicians, opposition leaders,
intellectuals and the media over the past few days.
Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi had set the tone Tuesday by demanding a
proper inquiry into the case and promising suitable action against
the guilty.
CPI-M central committee member Shyamal Chakraborty slammed the
police commissioner for defending his two senior IPS officers. "It
is for the senior officers to decide whether to stay put or proceed
on leave," he said.
Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty turned up the heat by
demanding the removal of the accused cops to ensure transparency in
the inquiry. Voices of protest were also heard from other Left Front
allies like the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the Communist
Party of India.
RSP leader and Public Works Department Minister Kshiti Goswami said
he had no faith in the CID inquiry.
Communist Party of India leader Nandogopal Bhattacharya said the
officers against whom fingers have been pointed should themselves go
on leave.
Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee said the government should
not take action only against the junior officers and leave out the
senior officials. "We want a CBI inquiry into the case," she said.
Former chief minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray said Buddhadeb
Bhattacharya's "inaction makes him guilty" of violating the Supreme
Court's verdict of July 7, 2006, which asked the administration and
police to protect couples in inter-caste or inter-religious
marriages from harassment.
Noted writer Sunil Gangopadhyay and Magasasay Award winner Mahestwa
Devi had also demanded removal of all tainted police officials for
the sake of a proper investigation.
The common people were not to be left behind. Candlelight vigils,
protest marches and signature campaigns were held at various places
to force the government into a corner and take action against the
guilty police officials.
"The government has finally risen from slumber and taken action
against the guilty police officials. But we will keep up the
pressure on the government to ensure that senior police officials
are also punished," said Tahir Ahmed, a participant.
Sujato Bhadra of the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights
(APDR), a human rights body, said, "I think it is a victory of sorts
for all of us. But it all depends on whether the government takes
action against the senior IPS officers involved in the case."
Rizwanur was in touch with Bhadra before his death and had given a
written complaint about the harassment by the police officials.
Students of St Xavier's College, where Rizwanur had studied, kept an
18-hour vigil outside the college gates, demanding action against
the guilty and a CBI probe into his death.
Rizwanur's family and friends are also not giving up easily. One of
his friends in Canada has already lodged a complaint with the
Amnesty International. Friends from across the world are sending
emails in support of the bereaved family. And an SMS campaign for
justice is gaining momentum.
The West Bengal chief minister had ordered a judicial probe into the
mysterious death of Rizwanur Sep 27 by former Calcutta High Court
judge Alok Chakraborty after police involvement in the case came out
in the open.
Bhattacharya had earlier ordered a Criminal Investigation Department
(CID) inquiry into the case, which is going on at the same time as
the judicial inquiry.
The CID had submitted an interim report of the ongoing probe into
the mysterious death of Rizwanur to state Home Secretary Prasad
Ranjan Roy Wednesday.
Roy said senior IPS officials whose names were dragged into the case
would be called in at an appropriate time.
A copy of the CID report would be sent to the West Bengal Human
Rights Commission (WBHRC), official sources said.
Earlier, the name of former Bengal Ranji Trophy cricketer Snehasish
Ganguly, brother of cricket icon Sourav Ganguly, was dragged into
the case after he admitted introducing the Todis to Police
Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee.
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