By Sujoy Dhar, IANS
Kolkata : Ending months of speculation, the CBI Thursday said that Rizwanur Rahman had not been murdered and indicted police officers and his in-laws for abetting his suicide. The Muslim youth’s mysterious death soon after marrying a Hindu industrialist’s daughter had sparked massive protests.
The Central Bureau of Investigation’s report submitted to the Calcutta High Court last month was read out by judge Dipankar Dutta Thursday.
The report accused Rizwanur’s in-laws, including his father-in-law Ashok Todi, and several police officials of abetting his suicide but ruled out murder as alleged by the youth’s family.
The death unleashed an unprecedented civil society movement in West Bengal for justice, with many accusing the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government of “shielding” policemen.
“The CBI report said Rizwanur was not murdered. He committed suicide. The CBI also asked the state government to initiate criminal proceedings against Rizwanur’s father-in-law Ashok Todi, his relative Anil Sarogi and three Kolkata Police officials – Ajoy Kumar, Sukanti Chakraborty and Krishnendu Das,” said Kalyan Bandopadhyay, lawyer of Rizwanur’s family.
The CBI also asked the government to take disciplinary action against former Kolkata police commissioner Prasun Mukherjee as well as another Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Gyanwant Singh and personnel of the Karaya police station in central Kolkata where Rizwanur went for justice but was threatened.
The investigating agency has nailed social worker Pappu, a family friend of the Rahmans, for his role in abetting the youth to take his life and allegedly accepting money from the Todis.
The final hearing would start March 12 while all respondents were asked to file their affidavits by March 6.
The family of Rizwanur, whose body with the head smashed was found by a railway track Sep 21 nearly a month after he married Priyanka Todi, daughter of Lux Cozi group chief Ashok Todi, said they would comment after going through the entire CBI report. But they could not hide their disappointment.
“We wanted a CBI probe and we were happy with the probe. But we are also disappointed because we still hold that Rizwanur was murdered. The CBI must have some technical grounds to term the death a suicide,” Rizwanur’s brother Rukbanur Rahman told IANS.
“We are, however, happy that all the names we took after Rizwanur’s death were mentioned in the report as abettors to the suicide,” Rukbanur said.
“I want punishment for the guilty. I cannot say that CBI did not do enough but I feel my son was murdered,” added his mother Kishwar Jahan.
Before his death, the 30-year-old graphic designer had approached the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), alleging harassment and threats by policemen who allegedly acted at the behest of their seniors.
Priyanka was forced to leave the house of Rizwanur, it was alleged.
APDR secretary Sujato Bhadra, whom Rizwanur had approached, said: “I see the report in a positive sense though I still believe that Rizwanur was murdered. If the CBI had got weak evidence to nail the offenders for a murder, then the strong evidences of abetment can see them languishing behind bars for 10 years.
“I think the CBI has done a better job than West Bengal’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) which had first started the probe,” Bhadra said.
West Bengal’s ruling communists came under fire from civil society for allegedly trying to shield the guilty policemen. However, following public pressure, the accused policemen, including Prasun Mukherjee, were removed from their posts.
The cry for justice by Rizwanur’s frail mother Kishwar Jahan, who lives in a rundown house in Kolkata’s Muslim ghetto Park Circus, put the communists in a spot.