By IANS
Kolkata : The mysterious death of a Muslim youth, married to a businessman’s daughter against her family’s wish, sparked a clash between cops and a mob in Kolkata Saturday even as a rights body claimed the deceased was constantly threatened by two top police officers to end the marriage.
The mob went on a rampage in Park Circus area and set a police vehicle on fire around noon.
The body of Rizwanur Rehman, a 30-year-old English honours graduate and a graphics designer, was found with injury marks beside a railway track the day before. His head had been smashed in.
When a rumour spread that the body of Rizwanur – who had married Priyanka Todi of Salt Lake in northeastern Kolkata – had gone missing from the police morgue, a mob gathered in Park Circus in south Kolkata, where he used to live.
The area turned into a battlefield as the irate mob first blocked a road and then damaged a private bus. The group then attacked policemen with bricks and a jeep was set on fire.
The police charged the mob with sticks and used teargas to bring the situation under control. The Rapid Action Force (RAF) was also deployed in the area.
More than a dozen people, including cops, were injured.
“We will probe whatever the allegations – whether the youth died accidentally or committed suicide or by any other means. But the entire violence was because of rumours of his body missing from the morgue. Even some TV channels spread this rumour,” Kolkata Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee told reporters at the spot.
The police later confirmed that the body of Rizwanur was in the morgue of the Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital.
Meanwhile, Sujato Bhadro of the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), who was approached by Rizwanur after alleged threatening calls from police, told IANS: “The girl should be brought before people and an independent inquiry should be ordered as this is a case of communal behaviour by police. It is complete abuse of power by the police and some rich people.”
Bhadra said a letter by Rizwanur clearly mentioned the names of top cops like Gyanwant Singh (deputy commissioner of police headquarters), Ajay Kumar (deputy commissioner, detective department-I) and police officer Sukanta Chakraborty as the ones who threatened him.
“This is inhuman and not an accidental case. The girl was taken back by her parents after putting pressure on Rizwanur. She last spoke to him from Tirupati where she was taken by her parents. Her parents forced her to tell Rizwanur that he should not approach the media or take legal steps to get her back,” Bhadro alleged.
“Sadiq, a witness to their marriage, was also threatened by police,” Bhadro said.
While the railway police filed a case as it was seen as a case of being hit by a train, Rizwanur’s family alleged that he had been threatened by his in-laws since his wedding in August 2006 and repeatedly asked to divorce his wife.
“My brother was also threatened several times by personnel from Karaya police station and senior police officials from Lal Bazar, the headquarters of Kolkata Police. We suspect that there is some foul play in my brother’s death,” said Rukbanur, Rizwanur’s elder brother, at their Tiljala Lane house.
The house of the Todis in Salt Lake was locked and a police picket was posted there while the body of Rizwanur was brought to his family for burial after a post-mortem examination.
Mamata Banerjee, chief of West Bengal’s main opposition Trinamool Congress, demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the matter, alleging that the state police’s Criminal Investigation department (CID) could not be trusted.
The victim’s friend Sadiq said that the last message he had received from Rizwanur had said: “Raise the voice of opposition after my death”.