By IANS
Kolkata : Welcoming the Calcutta High Court’s order for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the mysterious death of Rizwanur Rahman, Left Front chairman Biman Bose said the state government will abide by the court’s decision and take suitable action against the police officers indicted by it.
“The Calcutta High Court did not consult with the West Bengal government before ordering a CBI probe into the Rizwanur Rahman case. Despite that, the state government will provide all assistance to the CBI in its investigation,” Bose told reporters here Wednesday.
He said the high court should have consulted the state government before ordering a CBI investigation.
“The state government will take suitable action against the policemen indicted by the court. We want to make it clear that the government will not protect any police officers censured by the high court,” he said. He indicated that the government would now be forced to take action the policemen accused of coercing the Muslim youth to separate from his wife Priyanka Todi.
The court slammed Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee Tuesday for his statement, even before the post-mortem report was received, that Rizwanur Rahman had committed suicide.
“Such statements by the police commissioner will only prejudice the case. Therefore, only a CBI probe can unravel the truth behind Rizwanur’s death,” Justice Soumitra Pal said.
Bose said Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has decided not to appeal before the high court against the order.
“The chief minister said at the party meeting that the judicial inquiry into Rizwanur case, which was earlier ordered by the state government, will run concurrently with the CBI enquiry,” Bose said.
The Calcutta High Court Tuesday ordered a federal inquiry into the death of Rizwanur. The court also set a time frame of two months for the investigation agency to submit its report.
Rizwanur, a 30-year-old computer graphics designer, was found dead beside a railway track here with his head smashed on Sep 21, barely a month after marrying Priyanka, daughter of industrialist Ashok Todi who heads the multi-million-rupee Lux Cozi group.
Todi and some senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers are in the eye of a storm for allegedly intimidating the youth to end the marriage.
Rizwanur had mentioned the names of Deputy Commissioner (Headquarters) Gyanwant Singh and Deputy Commissioner (Detective Department) Ajay Kumar, besides police officials Sukanta Chakraborty and Krishnendu Das as those who had harassed him.
Both Chakraborty and Das told Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers that they were merely following their superiors’ instructions.
In a stinging condemnation of West Bengal’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the court said the ongoing investigation by the agency was “illegal”.
“The agency (CID) had interrogated 56 witnesses without filing a case against anybody. When there are allegations against the police and authorities, the case should be investigated by the CBI,” advocate Kalyan Bandopadhay, who is fighting the case on behalf of Rizwanur’s family, quoted the judge as saying.
Buddhadeb Bhattacharya had steadfastly refused a CBI probe but promised Rizwanur’s mother that he would ensure justice is done in the case.