By IANS,
Kolkata : Muslim youth Rizwanur Rehman’s family is happy with the Calcutta High Court ruling Thursday, blaming industrialist Ashok Todi and five others for his suicide last year, but says it will not be satisfied until the accused are punished.
“I am happy. But until the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) files the chargesheet against the Todis and four police officers and they are punished for the crime, I will not be satisfied,” Rehman’s brother Rukbanur said.
The Calcutta High Court Thursday said Rehman was provoked to commit suicide by Ashok Todi, his brother Pradip Todi and four police officers — Gyanwant Singh, Ajay Kumar, Sukanta Chakraborty and Krishnendu Das.
It asked the CBI to file a chargesheet against them in a lower court as soon as possible and said the CBI may continue its investigation on the case if it wants.
Rehman, a graphics designer, was found dead along the railway tracks of Patipukur in north Kolkata Sep 21, 2007, barely a month after his marriage to Priyanka, and the daughter of Ashok Todi. As a Hindu-Muslim love story gone horribly wrong, the death had shocked the entire nation.
Soon after the high court ruling Thursday, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee said Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee should be removed because he, as police minister, was responsible for Rizwanur’s death.
“The Todis and the four police officers must be given extreme punishment. But the person who guides the police is Bhattacharjee, who is also the police minister. I am sure the police could not have done anything to Rehman unless backed by him. He is responsible for Rehman’s death and should be removed from his post at the earliest,” Banerjee told reporters at her Kolkata residence.
“Rehman’s family is a victim of national terrorism promoted by industrialists and the police. But Thursday’s verdict proved that the truth cannot be altered by physical force and economic strength. The state government should take a lesson from this and Bhattacharjee must publicly apologise to Rehman’s mother in person,” Banerjee said.
The Todis could not be reached for comment.