By IANS
Kolkata : Eminent litterateur Mahasweta Devi Wednesday demanded immediate removal of Kolkata police chief Prasun Mukherjee over the mysterious death last week of a Muslim youth married to a rich Hindu girl.
The feisty Magsaysay award winner hit the streets with other intellectuals and joined their silent march with mouth gagged to protest the youth’s death that most of Kolkata believes to be a case of police complicity and attempted cover-up.
Rizwanur Rehman, a 30-year-old graphics designer, was found dead with head injury beside a railway track Friday. His family members and neighbours alleged that he was getting threat calls from some police officers after he married Priyanka Todi of Salt Lake in northeastern Kolkata.
Mukherjee in a press conference almost defended the family of Priyanka, dubbing Rehman’s death a suicide even before a post-mortem examination report was available. He walked out of the meet in a huff without answering queries on the ‘evidence’ of some top police officials’ role in harassing Rehman before he died.
“Police commissioner Prasun Mukherjee should be immediately removed,” Mahasweta Devi said after visiting Rehman’s family in Park Circus Wednesday.
“Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya should visit the family and see for himself. He is the home minister. Why does not he come?” asked the feisty social worker and writer who marched mouth gagged Wednesday with intellectuals in a silent procession.
Meanwhile, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Wednesday began a probe by serving notices to the girl’s family, which is not in town since the death, to appear before it. The sleuths also quizzed some of Rehman’s colleagues for clues.
The house of the Todis in Salt Lake has remained locked since Friday.
Bowing to public outcry, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya had ordered a CID probe into the death.
Main opposition Trinamool Congress has, however, demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the episode and punishment of the erring police officials.
Rehman’s family had earlier demanded a CBI probe into the death.
Meanwhile, Sujato Bhadra of the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), a human rights body, said: “We will take appropriate legal action in the case. We are not divulging what exactly is the nature of the move we would make”.
“The police are telling complete lies. They acted like moral police and they had no business to interfere in a legal marriage.”
The APDR was approached by Rehman after he was allegedly harassed and pressurized by the police to annul his marriage with Priyanka, which her parents had disapproved of.
Bhadra said a letter by Rehman 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 harassed him.