By IANS,
Kolkata : Suspecting “foul play” behind the death of West Bengal’s Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) legislator Mostafa Bin Quasem, his son Masum Bin Quasem Wednesday demanded a judicial probe into the alleged suicide.
“We cannot believe that my father could commit suicide. He was a person of strong personality. He was a college teacher and loved by all… they too did not believe that my father had committed suicide,” Masum said.
According to the police, the nearly 70-year-old Mostafa Bin Quasem, suffering from a kidney ailment, committed suicide by jumping from the third floor of the legislators’ hostel here Sunday (May 29).
“After seeing his body, we suspected that there must be some foul play behind it. So we demand a judicial probe into it. We will approach senior party leaders and also lodge a complaint with the police,” Quasem told IANS over phone.
Police sources said that two suicide notes of different dates were recovered from Mostafa’s room, which said that he had decided to end his life due to unbearable pain.
“Neither the police nor his party colleagues informed us about the recovery of suicide notes from his room. So we are not accepting such claims,” said Mustafa’s son-in-law Noor Islam, a former naval officer.
“We have noticed his body, there were injury marks – one on his face and another on his left shoulder. If a man commits suicide by jumping from such a height, his body would have been in more bad condition. Even his clothes were also in good shape,” Islam told IANS.
He added that during the recently concluded assembly elections, Mostafa campaigned every day between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. but never complained about his kidney ailment.
Quasem was elected from Basirhat North assembly constituency in North 24 Parganas district and used to live in the state legislators’ hostel. His wife was in his home in the district.
The legislator was elected from Baduria constituency in 1977 and from Swarupnagar constituency in 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2006. He was also elected as Rajya Sabha MP in 1983.