By IANS
Kolkata : Faced with a court rebuke and public protests, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya Wednesday removed five police officials, including top cop Prasun Mukherjee, for allegedly intimidating a Muslim youth who was found dead in mysterious circumstances last month.
“Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee, deputy commissioner (headquarters) Gyanwant Singh, deputy commissioner (detective department) Ajoy Kumar besides an AC (assistant commissioner) and an SI (sub-inspector) were being transferred,” Bhattacharya told a press conference at the state secretariat after a Left Front meeting unanimously decided to axe the cops.
The body of Rizwanur Rahman, a 30-year-old computer graphics designer, was found by a railway track here with his head smashed on Sep 21, barely a month after his marriage with Priyanka Todi, daughter of industrialist Ashok Todi who heads the multi-million-rupee Lux Cozi group.
Ashok Todi and the three Indian Police Service (IPS) officers now being removed are in the eye of a storm for allegedly intimidating the youth to end the marriage.
On Tuesday, the Calcutta High Court had ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into Rizwanur’s death terming the ongoing Criminal Investigation Department (CID) probe of the state police as “illegal”.
“I have asked the West Bengal chief secretary and the home secretary to remove all five Kolkata Police officials from their posts as early as possible,” Bhattacharya said.
The two junior police officials being axed are assistant commissioner of Anti-Rowdy Squad (ARS) Sukanti Chakraborty and sub-inspector of the same department Krishnendu Das.
“I had earlier taken the decision politically to remove those officials whose names have figured in the case. But today I have decided to transfer them immediately after receiving a copy of the Calcutta High Court’s order,” Bhattacharya said.
“Immediately I am transferring all the officers since some questions have been raised by the people. Proper action will be taken against these officials after the inquiry is over. I think this transfer is also like a punishment,” Bhattacharya said.
Asked if he knew Ashok Todi, Bhattacharya angrily answered, “I don’t know who Ashok Todi is. I have never met him and would never meet him in future.”
Rizwanur’s brother Rukbanur Rahman welcomed the step but said: “We would be more happy if they were punished.”
Bhattacharya, however, questioned the legality of the high court order for a CBI inquiry without consulting the state government.
Earlier in the day, the high court’s order for a CBI probe was accepted by the ruling Left Front.
Front chairman and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state secretary Biman Bose said the state government will abide by the court’s decision and take suitable action against the police officers indicted by it.
“The Calcutta High Court did not consult the West Bengal government before ordering a CBI probe into the case. Despite that, the state government will provide all assistance to the CBI in its investigation,” Bose told reporters.
Rizwanur had named Gyanwant Singh, Ajoy Kumar, Sukanti Chakraborty and Krishnendu Das as those who had harassed him.
Both Chakraborty and Das told CID officers that they were merely following their superiors’ instructions.
The high court slammed police commissioner Prasun Mukherjee for dubbing the death a suicide even before a post-mortem report was prepared.
Bhattacharya had steadfastly refused a CBI probe but promised Rizwanur’s mother that he would ensure that justice was meted out to the family.