Former Bengal top cop Pankaj Dutta’s death sparks BJP-TMC slugfest

Last month, Dutta was taking part in an event in Varanasi when he fell sick. Since then, he has been in a hospital.

Meanwhile, Dutta’s death led to a sharp attack against the ruling TMC in West Bengal by the Opposition BJP. The BJP blamed the TMC government for Dutta’s demise, alleging that “interrogation” of the former officer during the RG Kar protests led to his death.

He used to attend various electronic media programs regularly in his retirement life.

A prominent critic of the TMC government in the state, Dutta used to be a regular during panel discussions in TV news channels.

During the protests over the rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata, Dutta’s comment at an event sparked a controversy. A FIR was registered against him. It was alleged that police questioned him for over six hours.

Leader of the Opposition in Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Sunday blamed police for Dutta’s death. Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar also said: “He (Dutta) has been murdered. He died from the mental trauma after the way the state police harassed him at CM Mamata Banerjee’s behest.”

Condoling Dutta’s death, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh hit out at the BJP for politicising the former officer’s death. “If a police officer is called by the police one day, will his heart fail? Why did he (Dutta) go to Varanasi to speak at an event if he was in bad health,” the TMC spokesperson asked as he slammed the BJP.

Kunal Ghosh said despite “ideological and political differences” with Dutta, he shared a special relationship with the former top cop. “We used to talk sometimes. My sincere condolences on his passing,” Ghosh added.