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Family moves court after man dies in Kolkata police station
Family of man who died after being called to Kolkata police station for theft probe seeks transfer of investigation, alleges torture.
Kolkata: A day after a 42-year-old man died after being called at a police station in Kolkata in connection with theft of a mobile phone, his family on Thursday moved the Calcutta high court, seeking transfer of probe to other agency and accusing the police of torture.
Police have denied the torture allegation, saying the deceased, identified as Ashok Shaw, a native of Bihar residing in Patuatola Lane area in Kolkata, had a sudden bout of seizure and collapsed.
“We have demanded the release of CCTV footages of the police station during the time of the incident… and transfer of investigation to any other agency as the family has levelled allegations of torture against the police,” Priyanka Tibrewal, the petitioner’s counsel said.
On Wednesday, Shaw was summoned to the Amherst Street police station and asked to bring with him the second-hand phone he was using. Police officers told him it was a stolen phone. Later, when his family members reached the police station, they found him lying on the floor of the police station with blood oozing out of his nose. The man was declared “brought dead” after being taken to Kolkata Medical College and Hospital. Following the incident, the family members of the deceased held a protest outside the police station and blocked the College Street for at least an hour.
Denying the allegation of torture, a senior police officer said, “There was no incident of any beating... he experienced a sudden bout of seizure and collapsed on the ground.”
Tibrewal, who is also a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, submitted before the high court that the police were in a haste to conduct the post-mortem examination at a state-run hospital without the presence of his family member.
The prosecution counsel, however, informed the court that the family did not send any member to the post-mortem examination despite being offered by the police.
“It is very difficult to go and witness a post-mortem and especially when your kith and kin is one the table. It is very easy to argue but it is a very sensitive thing…,” the division bench headed by chief justice TS Sivagnanam observed. The court is likely to hear the matter further on Friday.
The incident, meanwhile, triggered a political slugfest with BJP councilor Sajal Ghosh demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe. The BJP has also claimed that the deceased was a relative of a party worker.
“Whenever there have been doubts on any post-mortem, a second autopsy was conducted. We hope the high court will consider our prayer. The post-mortem [examination] in the state-run hospital was conducted by doctors from the state health department. The police are also under the state government. When the allegation is against the police, an autopsy conducted by doctors in a state hospital is bound to be questioned,” Ghosh alleged.
The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) hit back, accusing the BJP of doing politics over death. “Any death is unfortunate. They (BJP) have no other work and hence they are doing this. They are playing politics over death,” TMC legislator and state minister Firhad Hakim told reporters.