By IANS
Kolkata : Veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Jyoti Basu Friday admitted the Left Front government in West Bengal has suffered political damage due to the inordinate delay in removal of tainted police officers following the mysterious death of a Muslim youth.
“Yes, the state government’s image has received a beating due to the delay in transferring the policemen who had allegedly coerced Rizwanur. We have suffered politically,” Basu told reporters while replying to a question at the state CPM’s headquarters in Alimuddin Street here.
“Though the state government has delayed in taking action against the policemen, the decision is good and a correct one,” added Basu.
The state government removed five police officials, Kolkata Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee, deputy commissioner (headquarters) Gyanwant Singh, deputy commissioner (detective department) Ajoy Kumar, assistant commissioner of Anti-Rowdy Squad (ARS) Sukanti Chakraborty and sub-inspector Krishnendu Das of the same department, Wednesday, almost 26 days after Rizwanur Rahman was found dead on railway tracks.
“I don’t know why the government had taken so long to act. The issue suddenly became so huge due to protests from civil society that the government was forced to take action against the policemen,” the Left Front patriarch said.
He also expressed surprise that even after so many days, it was yet to be ascertained whether Rizwanur had committed suicide or he was murdered.
Basu said he had asked Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya why the judicial inquiry was continuing concurrently with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe.
“The chief minister said he had taken the opinion of state advocate general Balai Ray who said the two probes can go on together. But what will happen if they come out with conflicting reports?” he asked.
He also scoffed at the opposition Trinamool Congress’s attempt to field Rizwanur’s brother Rukbanur in the election. “It is a cheap ploy to capitalise on someone else’s misfortune. Our party will never do it,” he said.
Rizwanur, a 30-year-old computer graphics designer, was found dead beside a railway track here with his head smashed on Sep 21, barely a month after marrying Priyanka, daughter of industrialist Ashok Todi.
The death had sparked widespread protests for justice as people took to the streets and campaigned for punishment to cops who allegedly intimidated Rizwanur and asked him to annul his marriage.