“The officers kept on insisting that I go back to my parents”: Priyanka
By TwoCircles.net staff reporter
Kolkata: Even as the doctor conducting the post-mortem on Rizwanur Rahman’s body reserved his judgment about the cause of death, the injuries mark on the body are “ante mortem” according to the “inconclusive” post-mortem report.
Rizwan a computer professional who married Priyanka Todi, daughter or rich businessman Ashok Todi was under pressure from his in-laws and the local police to divorce his wife. Rizwan’s body was found on railway tracks between Dum Dum and Bidhannagar railway stations. His body had injuries on the back of his head and a smashed face.
Police initially said that he may have killed himself by coming in front of a train. A day later Park Circus area of Kolkata where Rizwan’s family lived erupted in protest. His family alleged that it is a murder with police hands in it.
Rizwan who married Priyanka on August 18th before his death had alleged that local police were pressuring him to send his legally married wife to his rich in-laws for good.
Rizwanur was in touch with Sujato Bhadra of the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), a human rights body, before his death and had given written complaints of harassment by top cops.
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.
Priyanka who is staying now at her father’s house was questioned by CID team and she is reported to have said that she along with Rizwan was summoned to Lalbazar, headquarters of Koklata Police three times. On September 8th there were summoned again and here cops told her that her father was ill. “The officers kept on insisting that I go back to my parents,” Priyanka is reported to have said.
She was shipped to Coimbatore and Delhi when she went back to her father’s house in post Salt Lake area of the city.
Priyanka told CID officials that she “feels” that Rizwan committed suicide. When probed further she said she doesn’t think that Rizwan “a cheerful guy” can do such a thing. “He always looked at the positive side of life,” Priyanka informed the CID team.
Death of Rizwanur Rahman have given this gruesome murder a communal as well as rich-poor angle. Involvement of local cops has lead to demands by politicians for their dismissal and arrest of the Todis.
The post-mortem on Rizwan’s body was conducted by Prof. S. Batabyal, head of the forensic medicine at Nilratan Sarkar Hospital. He said he needs some clarification before he can come to a conclusion on the cause of death. But the injuries on Rizwan’s body clearly suggests that he was hit and beaten before he died therefore ruling out suicide, as claimed by the police.
Meanwhile Brinda Karat, CPI(M) politburo member visited Rizwan’s residence at Tilijala Lane in central Kolkata to offer her condolences.
[Information from agencies used in this report]