By IANS
Kolkata : The investigation into the mysterious death of Muslim computer graphics designer Rizwanur Rahman is progressing well, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said.
“We have formed a team and presently the interrogations are on. The investigation is progressing well and we are looking into the various aspects of the case,” CBI Special Crime Branch (SCB) joint director Arun Kumar said here Sunday evening.
The body of Rizwanur, 30, was found on Sep 21 with his head smashed, barely a month after his marriage to Priyanka Todi, daughter of industrialist Ashok Todi.
The CBI Sunday interrogated the driver and guard of the local train (Burdwan-Sealdah local) who first spotted the body of Rizwanur by the track on Sep 21.
A railway police employee, some relatives, including brother Rukbanur and his wife and two cousin brothers, human rights activist Sujato Bhadra, and an 18-year-old student of Rizwanur who was one of the last people to whom he had spoken before his body was found were also questioned.
Sujato Bhadra of the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) said: “I was asked why I think that Rizwanur was murdered and why it is not a case of suicide. I explained why I think so and also gave some information which I cannot share with the media right now.
“The CBI asked us about Rizwanur’s mental condition before his death,” Bhadra added.
Rizwanur had approached Bhadra for help after the police allegedly began intimidating and forcing him to end his marriage with Priyanka.
The interrogation process continued till Sunday evening at the Nizam Palace office of the investigation agency in central Kolkata.
All eyes are now on the Todi mansion in the posh Salt Lake neighbourhood of Kolkata, which the CBI team is likely to visit soon. The Todis have been asked not to go out of Kolkata without the CBI’s permission.
Sources said women CBI officers were being requisitioned to interrogate Priyanka.
The seven-member CBI team began its probe into the high-profile case Saturday with a visit to the spot from where Rizwanur’s body was found, a day after filing a murder case against his father-in-law.
Arun Kumar told journalists: “We have lodged a first information report (FIR) against Ashok Todi on the basis of the (Calcutta) High Court’s order. An FIR is not a charge, it is only an information.”
He said the case against Todi had been filed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) dealing with murder, criminal conspiracy and criminal intimidation with the threat to cause death.
He said no case had been registered against the police officials allegedly involved in the murder.
While the tainted cops were transferred this week following a public outcry and had been interrogated by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the state police, Todi had remained untouched except for initial summons by the CID.
The CBI probe, however, began with a murder case against Todi who owns the multi-million-rupee Lux Cozi group.
Todi had allegedly threatened his son-in-law with dire consequences and put pressure on him through the police to annul the marriage.
The Calcutta High Court had ordered a CBI inquiry into Rizwanur’s death last Tuesday, terming the ongoing CID investigation as “illegal”.
Faced with a court rebuke and public protests, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya Wednesday removed five police officials, including Kolkata Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee, for their alleged collusion with Todi.