This is an archive article published on April 14, 2022
Bengal: Officer who cracked Park Street case asked to monitor rape probes
Amid growing outrage over the incident, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, in her first term as CM, had termed it “doctored” and “minor”.
Written by Atri Mitra
Kolkata | April 14, 2022 03:39 AM IST
2 min read
Kolkata Police special commissioner Damayanti Sen (File)
IPS officer Damayanti Sen, who on Tuesday was asked by the Calcutta High Court to oversee the investigations into four recent rape cases reported from across West Bengal, is known for cracking the Park Street rape case in the face of political pressure.
Sen, 51, is currently posted as Kolkata Police special commissioner. She was the city’s joint commissioner (crime) when the Park Street rape took place in 2012.
Amid growing outrage over the incident, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, in her first term as CM, had termed it “doctored” and “minor”.
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Sen carried on with the probe despite pressure. She finally reported that the rape had indeed taken place and made the investigation public. She identified four accused, all of whom were arrested.
She was then transferred out of the city police. The state dispensation called her transfer a “routine affair”, but senior IPS officers said an “upright officer had to pay a price”.
A division bench of HC Tuesday said past experiences have shown that the 1996-batch officer was capable of ensuring an impartial inquiry into the rape cases, reported over the last month from North 24 Parganas, Malda, and south Kolkata.
The next date of hearing in this case is slated for April 20.
Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal.
Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur.
He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More