Rizwanur Rahman's 'mysterious death' is no more a 'mystery'..It's a murder-nothing more,nothing less.
In a startling revelation,a close friend of Priyanka Todi has revealed that Priyanka is under pressure to speak out the truth.
This is what Priyanka said to her friend:
"Rizwanur is no more..& if I go against my dad,I will be alone..Who will give me shelter-you?.. If I speak out,Rizwanur won't come back.. I have already lost Rizwanur,so I can't bear to lose my family's side..I know everything,but I can't reveal..I am under pressure..If you were in my position,you could have understood what is going on through me..Main Majboor Hoon".
From the above statements,it is quite clear:
Priyanka's father,Mr.Ashok Todi is the main culprit in Rizwan's death..That's why she mentions that revealing everything means going against her dad..
Now,what did Mr.Ashok Todi do that can have a bearing on Rizwan's death? Or,in other words,what can be the role of Mr.Ashok Todi?
A.The person who forced Rizwan to commit suicide.
B.The person who mastered the murder of Rizwan.
Now,from people who know Rizwan closely,we know that Rizwan was not a man to commit suicide..Had he had plans to commit suicide,Rizwan would not have called Human Rights activist,Mr.Sujato Bhadra minutes before his 'suicide' for an appointment at 2:30 pm..Also,the nature of his injuries reveal it's not a case of an ordinary jump-before-the-tracks suicide.That he was fatally hit before the train crushed his body is quite clear from his body.
Therefore,we can safely conclude,Rizwanur's death is not a case of suicide,but a case of murder.
So,Option B only satisfies the above conclusion.
Our conclusion..
It's pretty simple: Rizwanur was murdered.
And the murderer..
None other than: Ashok Todi.
Monday, October 29, 2007
The Mystery & The Questions Left Unanswered
Mr.Ashok Todi,the father of Priyanka Todi is an influential businessman with his influence extending even in the corridors of power in West Bengal,has been held responsible for the tragedy that has befallen before Rizwanur's family.The city police commissioner,two deputy commissioners as well as the Officer-in-Charge & two Sub-Inspectors of the local police station have also been vindicated for their role in the Rizwanur killing.
There are two possible lines of truth:
1.Murder Theory:
Rizwanur may have been murdered by Mr.Todi's men who have all been shielded by the city police.The names of top cops of Lalbazar(the citadel of Kolkata Police/West Bengal Police)with the likes of Gyanwant Singh & Ajay Kumar,both Deputy Commissioners of Kolkata Police coming to the forefront.Prasun Mukherjee,the erstwhile Kolkata Police Commissioner has also been a part of the game;his hurry to announce the cause of Rizwanur's death as suicide & undue support for those police officers who have interfered in the Rizwanur-Priyanka case only goes against his innocence.The nature of the injuries & the position of his body on the railway tracks of Patipukur reveal it's a murder.The fishy way with which his body was handled,his autopsy was undertaken & investigations were undertaken by the city police including the CID only support the murder theory.Also,the inaction of the police despite written requests by the couple to provide them with adequate protection,fearing separation,also support the death as a case of murder.
2.Suicide Theory:
Unjustified pressure from the Todis & city police may have taken a toll on Rizwanur and may have forced him to end his life on the railway tracks of Patipukur near Kolkata.
Even if it's true,then also Mr.Todi & 'his' police are to be blamed.How can the police interfere in a legally-registered marriage between two mature individuals?..All these just because Rizwanur's father-in-law is a multimillionaire?Does love have no value in this millionaire's heart?..Why will the police listen to the rich only?But,for how long?..
Are lovers safe in Kolkata?..or in India?
Why do parents still interfere with the marriage of their children who are adults and have found the love of their life & RETALIATE against their marriage?
Why is loving someone considered a grievance by majority of Indians?
Does the police have no other cases in hand that they interfere in others' private lives?
All these questions have come to the forefront & will continue to torment people's minds in the times to come.
There are two possible lines of truth:
1.Murder Theory:
Rizwanur may have been murdered by Mr.Todi's men who have all been shielded by the city police.The names of top cops of Lalbazar(the citadel of Kolkata Police/West Bengal Police)with the likes of Gyanwant Singh & Ajay Kumar,both Deputy Commissioners of Kolkata Police coming to the forefront.Prasun Mukherjee,the erstwhile Kolkata Police Commissioner has also been a part of the game;his hurry to announce the cause of Rizwanur's death as suicide & undue support for those police officers who have interfered in the Rizwanur-Priyanka case only goes against his innocence.The nature of the injuries & the position of his body on the railway tracks of Patipukur reveal it's a murder.The fishy way with which his body was handled,his autopsy was undertaken & investigations were undertaken by the city police including the CID only support the murder theory.Also,the inaction of the police despite written requests by the couple to provide them with adequate protection,fearing separation,also support the death as a case of murder.
2.Suicide Theory:
Unjustified pressure from the Todis & city police may have taken a toll on Rizwanur and may have forced him to end his life on the railway tracks of Patipukur near Kolkata.
Even if it's true,then also Mr.Todi & 'his' police are to be blamed.How can the police interfere in a legally-registered marriage between two mature individuals?..All these just because Rizwanur's father-in-law is a multimillionaire?Does love have no value in this millionaire's heart?..Why will the police listen to the rich only?But,for how long?..
Are lovers safe in Kolkata?..or in India?
Why do parents still interfere with the marriage of their children who are adults and have found the love of their life & RETALIATE against their marriage?
Why is loving someone considered a grievance by majority of Indians?
Does the police have no other cases in hand that they interfere in others' private lives?
All these questions have come to the forefront & will continue to torment people's minds in the times to come.
Victory For The People
KOLKATA, Oct. 16: The Calcutta High Court order for a CBI investigation into the unnatural death of Rizwanur Rehman is a victory for the people of Bengal, whether Hindu or Muslim, a jubilant Mr Rukbanur Rehman said after the High Court announced its verdict today.
The CBI investigation was ordered because Mr Prasun Mukherjee, commissioner of police, Kolkata Police, announced to the Press even before the post-mortem report was submitted, that Rizwanur’s death was a case of suicide, said Mr Kalyan Bandopadhyay, counsel for Rizwanur Rehman’s kin.
As soon as Mr Justice Soumitra Pal announced a CBI investigation, Mr Rukbanur and his relatives hugged each other. Cries of joy and clapping rang inside the courtroom. As Mr Rukbanur and his relatives trooped outside, congratulations came his way from lawyers and people inside the High Court building.
“We are very happy. This is a victory for the people of West Bengal. I have full faith in the Indian judicial system, and am sure that we will get justice very soon,” said Mr Rukbanur to the Press waiting outside. “I thank the media for being with us all the way and I hope they will continue to be with us until justice is done to Rizwanur.”
Mr Kalyan Bandopadhyay, counsel for Rizwanur Rehman’s kin, said: “The High Court has maintained that there has been a legal injury to both mother and brother of the deceased, because of which the appeal for CBI investigation is valid under Section 226 of the Indian Constitution. About the CID investigation since 25 September into Rizwanur Rehman’s death, in which 22 witnesses were summoned, the Judge has said the investigation is illegal, as it is a violation of Section 175 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.”
Mr Bandopadhyay also said that the CBI probe has been ordered because of Mr Prasun Mukherjee’s comments before the Press even before the post-mortem report was submitted to police about Rizwanur Rehman’s death being a case of suicide.
Waving placards written hurriedly to welcome the High Court decision, friends and relatives of Rizwanur Rehman said today they were as happy as if it were Id.
“We are very happy. Truth has won. Today is our Id,” said Mohd. Alam, uncle of Rizwanur.
The CBI investigation was ordered because Mr Prasun Mukherjee, commissioner of police, Kolkata Police, announced to the Press even before the post-mortem report was submitted, that Rizwanur’s death was a case of suicide, said Mr Kalyan Bandopadhyay, counsel for Rizwanur Rehman’s kin.
As soon as Mr Justice Soumitra Pal announced a CBI investigation, Mr Rukbanur and his relatives hugged each other. Cries of joy and clapping rang inside the courtroom. As Mr Rukbanur and his relatives trooped outside, congratulations came his way from lawyers and people inside the High Court building.
“We are very happy. This is a victory for the people of West Bengal. I have full faith in the Indian judicial system, and am sure that we will get justice very soon,” said Mr Rukbanur to the Press waiting outside. “I thank the media for being with us all the way and I hope they will continue to be with us until justice is done to Rizwanur.”
Mr Kalyan Bandopadhyay, counsel for Rizwanur Rehman’s kin, said: “The High Court has maintained that there has been a legal injury to both mother and brother of the deceased, because of which the appeal for CBI investigation is valid under Section 226 of the Indian Constitution. About the CID investigation since 25 September into Rizwanur Rehman’s death, in which 22 witnesses were summoned, the Judge has said the investigation is illegal, as it is a violation of Section 175 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.”
Mr Bandopadhyay also said that the CBI probe has been ordered because of Mr Prasun Mukherjee’s comments before the Press even before the post-mortem report was submitted to police about Rizwanur Rehman’s death being a case of suicide.
Waving placards written hurriedly to welcome the High Court decision, friends and relatives of Rizwanur Rehman said today they were as happy as if it were Id.
“We are very happy. Truth has won. Today is our Id,” said Mohd. Alam, uncle of Rizwanur.
The Other Policemen
KOLKATA, Oct. 11: Even before two deputy commissioners of Kolkata Police and two officers of the detective department had intervened in the marriage of Rizwanur Rehman and Ms Priyanka Todi, because it was their ‘professional job and not the PWD’s’, two sub-inspectors of Kareya police station had refused to do the same because they had felt that police shouldn’t interfere into the married life of two consenting adults.
These two sub-inspectors, Mr Jayanta Mukherjee and Mr Pulak Dutta, who were interrogated by the CID today, had gone to Rizwanur's residence late on 31 August, after being informed that a ruckus was on. Rizwanur and Ms Todi, incidentally, had got married earlier on that day. A senior CID officer who is a member of the team investigating the “unnatural death” case of Rizwanur, said that the two officers of Kareya police station told them during questioning that they had gone to Rizwanur’s Tiljala Lane residence on 31 August after being informed that Mr Ashok Todi was trying to take away his daughter from their house. “When they arrived at Rizwanur’s house, they found that he and Ms Priyanka Todi was talking with Mr Ashok Todi,” the CID officer said. The two officers told CID sleuths that both Rizwanur and his wife Priyanka had told them that they had married willingly. “They had also produced a marriage certificate and proofs of age. Rizwanur expressed fear that his father-in-law might harm him for marrying Ms Todi and that Mr Todi was not above abducting him. The officers said that they had asked Priyanka if she wanted to return to her father’s house in Salt Lake. When Priyanka replied in the negative, the two officers said that they left Rizwanur’s house telling Mr Ashok Todi that police can’t interfere with the married live of two consenting adults,” the CID officer said.
Along with the two officers, Trinamul Congress MLA from Ballygunge assembly constituency, Mr Javed Khan, was also interrogated by CID sleuths at Bhawani Bhavan. Mr Khan reportedly told the CID that he hadn’t pressured Priyanka to return to his father’s house as it was alleged.
These two sub-inspectors, Mr Jayanta Mukherjee and Mr Pulak Dutta, who were interrogated by the CID today, had gone to Rizwanur's residence late on 31 August, after being informed that a ruckus was on. Rizwanur and Ms Todi, incidentally, had got married earlier on that day. A senior CID officer who is a member of the team investigating the “unnatural death” case of Rizwanur, said that the two officers of Kareya police station told them during questioning that they had gone to Rizwanur’s Tiljala Lane residence on 31 August after being informed that Mr Ashok Todi was trying to take away his daughter from their house. “When they arrived at Rizwanur’s house, they found that he and Ms Priyanka Todi was talking with Mr Ashok Todi,” the CID officer said. The two officers told CID sleuths that both Rizwanur and his wife Priyanka had told them that they had married willingly. “They had also produced a marriage certificate and proofs of age. Rizwanur expressed fear that his father-in-law might harm him for marrying Ms Todi and that Mr Todi was not above abducting him. The officers said that they had asked Priyanka if she wanted to return to her father’s house in Salt Lake. When Priyanka replied in the negative, the two officers said that they left Rizwanur’s house telling Mr Ashok Todi that police can’t interfere with the married live of two consenting adults,” the CID officer said.
Along with the two officers, Trinamul Congress MLA from Ballygunge assembly constituency, Mr Javed Khan, was also interrogated by CID sleuths at Bhawani Bhavan. Mr Khan reportedly told the CID that he hadn’t pressured Priyanka to return to his father’s house as it was alleged.
Two Voices From The Same Mouth
KOLKATA, Oct. 5: The CPI-M and the state government today spoke in two voices on the question of removing the police officers, including the Commissioner of Police, whose names figured in the mysterious death of Rizwan-ur-Rehman, creating confusion worse confounded.
It was Mr Jyoti Basu who set the ball of confusion and speculation rolling when emerging from the CPI-M state committee meeting in the morning he said two officers in the Rizwanur case had been removed. When reporters asked him to identify the two, Mr Basu apparently parried an answer and only said : “Two officers have been removed. The CP’s name also figures. His remarks at the Press conference (two days after the death justifying police involvement and describing the death as a case of suicide even before the post mortem report was available) were very bad, uncalled for. The chief minister’s attention has been drawn to it. We have to await the outcome of a petition being heard in the court on whether the CBI can be asked to inquire.”
Despite repeated efforts by the media there was no word from the state government till the evening on whether any police officers had actually been removed. Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said : “What can I say after Mr Basu spoke on the issue. A judicial inquiry has been ordered and there’s a court case. I am in no position to speak on the issue at this stage.”
The home secretary, Mr Prasad Roy, was equally ambivalent. “I haven’t received any order on the removal. We are seeking legal advice on the question of transferring IPS officers as a judicial inquiry has been instituted and a court case is on. Moreover, there’s a view that the state government’s position may be weakened if IPS officers are transferred now.”
Asked whether the state government can take steps against police officers of the rank of assistant commissioner or sub-inspector while the inquiry is in progress, Mr Roy said : “Possibly it can.”
Mr Roy, however, insisted that the state government doesn’t “endorse at all” what the CP had stated at the controversial Press conference. He added the DC Headquarters, DCDD, DC (South) and officer-in-charge Karaya police station (whose names had come up for their alleged role in Rizwan-ur’s death under mysterious circumstances) would be examined. “There are allegations against some other officers whom I don’t want to name.” he said.
Senior city police officers refused to comment on Mr Basu’s statement that two city police officers, grilled in connection with the Rizwan-ur death case, had been removed.
When asked if he has received removal orders of the officers, Mr Ajoy Kumar, deputy commissioner of the city police’s detective department, replied in negative. “I have not received any official order to this effect till this evening,” Mr Kumar said. Mr Gyanwant Singh,
DC (headquarters), also confirmed that the officers have not been removed till this evening.
The big question that the day’s development threw up was: Who is running the state government ? The CPI-M party apparatus ? Or, the chief minister ? For, when Mr Basu told the media about the “removal” of two police officers, the state government not only had no inkling into who these officers were, the chief minister didn’t even confirm or deny what Mr Basu had stated.
Obviously, the CPI-M fielded Mr Jyoti Basu to salvage whatever was left of the image of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-government and the party that took a severe beating after the shoddy handling of the Rizwarn-ur case by the city police. The CPI-M state committee, which met during the day, discussed the matter at length, toed the state government’s line and hoped that the judicial inquiry would unravel the truth. It expressed its sympathy for the bereaved members of Rizwan-ur’s family.
On the other hand, the family members said they would be satisfied only if action is taken against the two IPS officers they had named for their alleged role in Rizwan-ur’s death, Priyanka’s father, Mr Ashoke Todi, his brother Mr Pradip Todi and Mr Anil Sarogi.
Mr Nandagopal Bhattcharjee, water resources minister and CPI leader, said no fair inquiry is possible as long as the top police officers against whom allegations have been made remain in their present positions. Trinamul Congress chief Miss Mamata Banerjee strongly reacted to Mr Basu’s announcement of the removal of the two police officers and described it as an “eye-wash” and a desperate attempt to shield the higher-ups.
“It’s clear this government is grossly incompetent which is why it has used Mr Basu, who has nothing to do with the government’s functioning, to cover its misdeed. The police minister is no less culpable, just as the police chief who is being shielded along with two other senior police officers. The interim report of CID investigation has already showed the government’s intention to cover up the criminal conspiracy by the police to destroy the promising youth. Only a CBI inquiry can unravel the truth behind the heinous crime,” she said. The PCC acting president, Mr Pradip Bhattacharya, also dismissed the action taken against two lower ranking police officers as a “hogwash intended to protect their seniors.”
It was Mr Jyoti Basu who set the ball of confusion and speculation rolling when emerging from the CPI-M state committee meeting in the morning he said two officers in the Rizwanur case had been removed. When reporters asked him to identify the two, Mr Basu apparently parried an answer and only said : “Two officers have been removed. The CP’s name also figures. His remarks at the Press conference (two days after the death justifying police involvement and describing the death as a case of suicide even before the post mortem report was available) were very bad, uncalled for. The chief minister’s attention has been drawn to it. We have to await the outcome of a petition being heard in the court on whether the CBI can be asked to inquire.”
Despite repeated efforts by the media there was no word from the state government till the evening on whether any police officers had actually been removed. Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said : “What can I say after Mr Basu spoke on the issue. A judicial inquiry has been ordered and there’s a court case. I am in no position to speak on the issue at this stage.”
The home secretary, Mr Prasad Roy, was equally ambivalent. “I haven’t received any order on the removal. We are seeking legal advice on the question of transferring IPS officers as a judicial inquiry has been instituted and a court case is on. Moreover, there’s a view that the state government’s position may be weakened if IPS officers are transferred now.”
Asked whether the state government can take steps against police officers of the rank of assistant commissioner or sub-inspector while the inquiry is in progress, Mr Roy said : “Possibly it can.”
Mr Roy, however, insisted that the state government doesn’t “endorse at all” what the CP had stated at the controversial Press conference. He added the DC Headquarters, DCDD, DC (South) and officer-in-charge Karaya police station (whose names had come up for their alleged role in Rizwan-ur’s death under mysterious circumstances) would be examined. “There are allegations against some other officers whom I don’t want to name.” he said.
Senior city police officers refused to comment on Mr Basu’s statement that two city police officers, grilled in connection with the Rizwan-ur death case, had been removed.
When asked if he has received removal orders of the officers, Mr Ajoy Kumar, deputy commissioner of the city police’s detective department, replied in negative. “I have not received any official order to this effect till this evening,” Mr Kumar said. Mr Gyanwant Singh,
DC (headquarters), also confirmed that the officers have not been removed till this evening.
The big question that the day’s development threw up was: Who is running the state government ? The CPI-M party apparatus ? Or, the chief minister ? For, when Mr Basu told the media about the “removal” of two police officers, the state government not only had no inkling into who these officers were, the chief minister didn’t even confirm or deny what Mr Basu had stated.
Obviously, the CPI-M fielded Mr Jyoti Basu to salvage whatever was left of the image of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-government and the party that took a severe beating after the shoddy handling of the Rizwarn-ur case by the city police. The CPI-M state committee, which met during the day, discussed the matter at length, toed the state government’s line and hoped that the judicial inquiry would unravel the truth. It expressed its sympathy for the bereaved members of Rizwan-ur’s family.
On the other hand, the family members said they would be satisfied only if action is taken against the two IPS officers they had named for their alleged role in Rizwan-ur’s death, Priyanka’s father, Mr Ashoke Todi, his brother Mr Pradip Todi and Mr Anil Sarogi.
Mr Nandagopal Bhattcharjee, water resources minister and CPI leader, said no fair inquiry is possible as long as the top police officers against whom allegations have been made remain in their present positions. Trinamul Congress chief Miss Mamata Banerjee strongly reacted to Mr Basu’s announcement of the removal of the two police officers and described it as an “eye-wash” and a desperate attempt to shield the higher-ups.
“It’s clear this government is grossly incompetent which is why it has used Mr Basu, who has nothing to do with the government’s functioning, to cover its misdeed. The police minister is no less culpable, just as the police chief who is being shielded along with two other senior police officers. The interim report of CID investigation has already showed the government’s intention to cover up the criminal conspiracy by the police to destroy the promising youth. Only a CBI inquiry can unravel the truth behind the heinous crime,” she said. The PCC acting president, Mr Pradip Bhattacharya, also dismissed the action taken against two lower ranking police officers as a “hogwash intended to protect their seniors.”
A Murder Most Foul
Two Deputy Commissioners of Kolkata Police, Mr Gyanwant Singh and Mr Ajay Kumar, both IPS officers, and an Assistant Commissioner, Mr Sukanti Chakraborty, literally hounded Rizwanur Rahman to death.
From 1 to 8 September, they repeatedly summoned him and his wife, Priyanka Todi, to their Lalbazar headquarters and forced him, under threat of imminent arrest, to send her back to her father’s house That was on 8 September and that was also the last that Rizwan saw of his wife. And he himself was fated to die on 21 September.
The three police officers were clearly acting in excess of their jurisdiction. A case had not been registered anywhere against Rizwan, although some patently false information was filed by Ashok Todi, Priyanks’s father, at Lalbazar to the effect that Rizwan had abducted her. It was known to the police officers that they had legally married and, therefore, the police had no role to play in this matter, irrespective of the fact that the religious persuasion of the two parties was different.
Mr Prasun Mukherjee, Commissioner of Police, made the ex cathedra announcement at the Press conference called by him on 23 September that it was “transparently” a case of suicide. He was thereafter unable, or unwilling, to answer some pertinent questions about the “suicide”. He made his peremptory announcement, invoking an astute power of divination, at a time when he had not seen the postmortem report or the condition in which Rizwan’s body was found by the side of the rail tracks near Bidhannagar railway station.
To those uninitiated in the mysteries of the occult and given to logical and rational thinking, the theory of suicide was the least plausible, for Rizwan had vowed to fight the might of Ashok Todi and he had set out from home on the fateful day with the avowed purpose of meeting Mr Sujato Bhadra of the Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights and at about 10.12 a.m., he had rung up Mr Bhadra to reschedule his meeting with him to 2.30 p.m. and then go to Lalbazar and half an hour later his body was discovered between Bidhannagar and Dum Dum railway stations.
No crew of any train that passed the spot where his body lay has testified to the fact that he was hit by their train. The body was discovered facing upwards with hands folded across the chest. The skull was smashed, but, apart from this, it bore no other marks of injury and the clothes were not torn. These are circumstances that are inconsistent with the theory of suicide and point plainly to murder.
Assuming, but not admitting, that it was suicide, Rizwan was driven to it by the intervention of the police in his marital life culminating in the forcible removal of his wife to her father’s custody and at least three Kolkata Police officers, Mr Gyanwant Singh, Mr Ajay Kumar and Mr Sukanti Chakraborty, are guilty of abetting the offence. And they were all acting under the orders of Mr Prasun Mukherjee. Therefore, all four of them should face criminal proceedings for the abetment of suicide, apart from disciplinary proceedings for acting in excess of their lawful jurisdiction.
But if, as seems likely, it was a case of murder, was it committed by hired goons with the possible complicity of the police? The haste with which Mr Prasun Mukherjee chose to brand the crime as suicide without an iota of evidence, invoking his mysterious powers of divination, would suggest that he had a guilty suspicion that it was not and was keen to bury the truth. At whose behest? Mr Ashok Todi’s money or the party in power or both?
In this connection, it may be pertinent to bear in mind that the instinctive initial reaction of Mr Biman Bose of the CPI-M was to spring to the defence of the Police Commissioner and to justify his fatuous remarks at his famous Press conference.
Then there is the statement of Rizwan’s relatives to the effect that certain CPI-M leaders offered the family money to hush up the matter. It may also be pertinent to mention that for Mr Ashok Todi the death of Rizwan was a consummation devoutly to be wished, for that removed once for all the canker that was eating into his soul. Therefore, a thorough investigation by an impartial agency is needed to unravel the truth and to rescue it from the murky hands of Mr Prasun Mukherjee and his cohorts.
The decision of the state government to hand over the investigation of the Rizwan affair to the CID will assuage few minds that want a fair and an impartial inquiry to be conducted in order to unmask the culprits, including the abettors, if any. Already the CID inquiry is under suspicion that it is being manipulated from Writers’ Buildings with Mr Mukul Sengupta, the IG, stoically refusing to interrogate the two deputy commissioners, who have been the stars of the dramatis personae of this sordid drama on the ground that there is no evidence against them!!!
The suspicion cannot be avoided that the CID will prepare any report dictated by the powers that be based on preconceived notions. And predictably, according to the Home Secretary, the preliminary report of the CID exonerates the Kolkata Police officers of any wrong doing. A former police commissioner, Mr Tushar Talukdar, two former DGPs, Mr Arun Prakash Mukherji and Mr Amiya Kumar Samanta and a former Joint Director of the CBI, Mr Upendra Biswas, have categorically stated on television that the intervention of the Kolkata Police officers in the Rizwanur-Priyanka affair was wholly unwarranted and unlawful. Mr Talukdar said he was ashamed of the conduct of the Kolkata Police.
If justice is not merely to be done, but also seen to be done, and if the powers that be are not afraid of whatever truth is likely to be uncovered, the investigation should be handed over to the CBI, for the CID will not be able, or allowed, to ferret out the truth. Mr Subhas Chakraborty, state’s transport minister, is unequivocally of the same opinion.
The chief minister gives the impression that he also wants that justice must be seen to be done and with this end in view he has announced what he described as a “judicial” inquiry into the circumstances leading to Rizwan’s death. The inquiry is to be conducted by Mr Aloke Chakraborty, a retired judge of Calcutta High Court.
Through what process his name cropped up is not known. But the important fact is that he ceased to be a member of the judiciary the moment he retired from the High Court. Then how does the CM call the inquiry a “judicial inquiry”? A judicial inquiry, properly constituted, would require the state government to write to the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court requesting him to nominate a sitting judge of the High Court and to appoint that judge to conduct the inquiry. This process is designed to preserve the independence of the inquiry from any kind of interference.
Be that as it may, Mr Chakraborty’s inquiry will serve no purpose at all, apart from buying valuable time for government and obfuscating issues. In particular, it will not be able to bring the culprits to book. Public memory is proverbially short. Therefore, if the CM means business, he should scrap the proposed “judicial” inquiry and entrust the investigation to the CBI, the only impartial agency available in the circumstances.
While announcing the so-called “judicial inquiry”, the CM said that money power might have been involved in the Rizwan affair; and that there was also a communal dimension to it. He avoided saying that there was a political dimension also. Echoing the role of money power, Mr Kshiti Goswami, PWD minister, said that Mr Ashok Todi helped Mr Prasun Mukherjee in his CAB election campaign. And what about the communal approach of the Kolkata Police?
Public conscience has been touched to the quick by the murky goings-on in the police and there has been widespread resentment in all walks of civil society, cutting across all religious lines, at the sordid conduct of the police and the loss of an innocent life. That conscience demands an impartial inquiry to unravel the truth. The Commissioner of Police, owning at least moral responsibility for the high-handedness of two of his deputies and others and the resultant tragedy, should immediately resign from his post; and if he does not oblige, he should be relieved of his post; and the other officers named in this connection should face disciplinary proceedings and placed under suspension immediately and, if their complicity in abetment of suicide or murder is proved, then they should face criminal proceedings as well. The immediate removal of all four police officers from their posts, pending disciplinary and/or criminal proceedings, is the least that the government can do to bolster a sagging public confidence in the government’s will, or ability, to deliver justice.
From 1 to 8 September, they repeatedly summoned him and his wife, Priyanka Todi, to their Lalbazar headquarters and forced him, under threat of imminent arrest, to send her back to her father’s house That was on 8 September and that was also the last that Rizwan saw of his wife. And he himself was fated to die on 21 September.
The three police officers were clearly acting in excess of their jurisdiction. A case had not been registered anywhere against Rizwan, although some patently false information was filed by Ashok Todi, Priyanks’s father, at Lalbazar to the effect that Rizwan had abducted her. It was known to the police officers that they had legally married and, therefore, the police had no role to play in this matter, irrespective of the fact that the religious persuasion of the two parties was different.
Mr Prasun Mukherjee, Commissioner of Police, made the ex cathedra announcement at the Press conference called by him on 23 September that it was “transparently” a case of suicide. He was thereafter unable, or unwilling, to answer some pertinent questions about the “suicide”. He made his peremptory announcement, invoking an astute power of divination, at a time when he had not seen the postmortem report or the condition in which Rizwan’s body was found by the side of the rail tracks near Bidhannagar railway station.
To those uninitiated in the mysteries of the occult and given to logical and rational thinking, the theory of suicide was the least plausible, for Rizwan had vowed to fight the might of Ashok Todi and he had set out from home on the fateful day with the avowed purpose of meeting Mr Sujato Bhadra of the Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights and at about 10.12 a.m., he had rung up Mr Bhadra to reschedule his meeting with him to 2.30 p.m. and then go to Lalbazar and half an hour later his body was discovered between Bidhannagar and Dum Dum railway stations.
No crew of any train that passed the spot where his body lay has testified to the fact that he was hit by their train. The body was discovered facing upwards with hands folded across the chest. The skull was smashed, but, apart from this, it bore no other marks of injury and the clothes were not torn. These are circumstances that are inconsistent with the theory of suicide and point plainly to murder.
Assuming, but not admitting, that it was suicide, Rizwan was driven to it by the intervention of the police in his marital life culminating in the forcible removal of his wife to her father’s custody and at least three Kolkata Police officers, Mr Gyanwant Singh, Mr Ajay Kumar and Mr Sukanti Chakraborty, are guilty of abetting the offence. And they were all acting under the orders of Mr Prasun Mukherjee. Therefore, all four of them should face criminal proceedings for the abetment of suicide, apart from disciplinary proceedings for acting in excess of their lawful jurisdiction.
But if, as seems likely, it was a case of murder, was it committed by hired goons with the possible complicity of the police? The haste with which Mr Prasun Mukherjee chose to brand the crime as suicide without an iota of evidence, invoking his mysterious powers of divination, would suggest that he had a guilty suspicion that it was not and was keen to bury the truth. At whose behest? Mr Ashok Todi’s money or the party in power or both?
In this connection, it may be pertinent to bear in mind that the instinctive initial reaction of Mr Biman Bose of the CPI-M was to spring to the defence of the Police Commissioner and to justify his fatuous remarks at his famous Press conference.
Then there is the statement of Rizwan’s relatives to the effect that certain CPI-M leaders offered the family money to hush up the matter. It may also be pertinent to mention that for Mr Ashok Todi the death of Rizwan was a consummation devoutly to be wished, for that removed once for all the canker that was eating into his soul. Therefore, a thorough investigation by an impartial agency is needed to unravel the truth and to rescue it from the murky hands of Mr Prasun Mukherjee and his cohorts.
The decision of the state government to hand over the investigation of the Rizwan affair to the CID will assuage few minds that want a fair and an impartial inquiry to be conducted in order to unmask the culprits, including the abettors, if any. Already the CID inquiry is under suspicion that it is being manipulated from Writers’ Buildings with Mr Mukul Sengupta, the IG, stoically refusing to interrogate the two deputy commissioners, who have been the stars of the dramatis personae of this sordid drama on the ground that there is no evidence against them!!!
The suspicion cannot be avoided that the CID will prepare any report dictated by the powers that be based on preconceived notions. And predictably, according to the Home Secretary, the preliminary report of the CID exonerates the Kolkata Police officers of any wrong doing. A former police commissioner, Mr Tushar Talukdar, two former DGPs, Mr Arun Prakash Mukherji and Mr Amiya Kumar Samanta and a former Joint Director of the CBI, Mr Upendra Biswas, have categorically stated on television that the intervention of the Kolkata Police officers in the Rizwanur-Priyanka affair was wholly unwarranted and unlawful. Mr Talukdar said he was ashamed of the conduct of the Kolkata Police.
If justice is not merely to be done, but also seen to be done, and if the powers that be are not afraid of whatever truth is likely to be uncovered, the investigation should be handed over to the CBI, for the CID will not be able, or allowed, to ferret out the truth. Mr Subhas Chakraborty, state’s transport minister, is unequivocally of the same opinion.
The chief minister gives the impression that he also wants that justice must be seen to be done and with this end in view he has announced what he described as a “judicial” inquiry into the circumstances leading to Rizwan’s death. The inquiry is to be conducted by Mr Aloke Chakraborty, a retired judge of Calcutta High Court.
Through what process his name cropped up is not known. But the important fact is that he ceased to be a member of the judiciary the moment he retired from the High Court. Then how does the CM call the inquiry a “judicial inquiry”? A judicial inquiry, properly constituted, would require the state government to write to the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court requesting him to nominate a sitting judge of the High Court and to appoint that judge to conduct the inquiry. This process is designed to preserve the independence of the inquiry from any kind of interference.
Be that as it may, Mr Chakraborty’s inquiry will serve no purpose at all, apart from buying valuable time for government and obfuscating issues. In particular, it will not be able to bring the culprits to book. Public memory is proverbially short. Therefore, if the CM means business, he should scrap the proposed “judicial” inquiry and entrust the investigation to the CBI, the only impartial agency available in the circumstances.
While announcing the so-called “judicial inquiry”, the CM said that money power might have been involved in the Rizwan affair; and that there was also a communal dimension to it. He avoided saying that there was a political dimension also. Echoing the role of money power, Mr Kshiti Goswami, PWD minister, said that Mr Ashok Todi helped Mr Prasun Mukherjee in his CAB election campaign. And what about the communal approach of the Kolkata Police?
Public conscience has been touched to the quick by the murky goings-on in the police and there has been widespread resentment in all walks of civil society, cutting across all religious lines, at the sordid conduct of the police and the loss of an innocent life. That conscience demands an impartial inquiry to unravel the truth. The Commissioner of Police, owning at least moral responsibility for the high-handedness of two of his deputies and others and the resultant tragedy, should immediately resign from his post; and if he does not oblige, he should be relieved of his post; and the other officers named in this connection should face disciplinary proceedings and placed under suspension immediately and, if their complicity in abetment of suicide or murder is proved, then they should face criminal proceedings as well. The immediate removal of all four police officers from their posts, pending disciplinary and/or criminal proceedings, is the least that the government can do to bolster a sagging public confidence in the government’s will, or ability, to deliver justice.
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