CID report awaited, A-G says cops didn146;t commit offence

Three days after former chief minister, Jyoti Basu, declared that two Kolkata Police officers involved in the Rizwanur...

Three days after former chief minister, Jyoti Basu, declared that two Kolkata Police officers involved in the Rizwanur Rehman death case have been removed, the state Government is yet to confirm who they were and what 8220;removal8221; exactly meant.

8220;We are still waiting for the CID report. Before that we cannot do anything,8221; Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray said on Monday.

He went on to add: 8220;The police officers DC HQ, Gyanawant Singh, DC, DD Ajay Kumar, Assistant Commissioner Sukanti Chakrabarty and SI Krishnendu Das of Anti-Rowdy Section had definitely outstepped their limits. It8217;s a serious allegation. After the CID files its report we will start the case.8221;

Strangely, despite Ray8217;s assertion of the seriousness of the offence, the state government submitted in the Calcutta High Court on Monday that the police officers had not committed any 8220;cognisable8221; offence. 8220;The act of DC DD and DC HQ and other two police officers of the Anti-Rowdy Section to persuade Priyanka Todi to get back to her residence should not be considered as a cognizable offence,8221; said Advocate General Bolai Roy at the court of Justice Soumitra Pal. The court was hearing the plea filed by Rehman8217;s family, demanding a CBI inquiry into the case.

The question that begs answer is that if the state government, as Ray said, is waiting for the CID to complete its investigation, how could it submit before the High Court that the police officers had not committed any 8220;cognizable8221; offence? The Home Secretary was not available for comment.

Advocate General Bolai Roy also argued that Rehman and Priyanka should have lodged a complaint before a magistrate or a proper legal forum if the police officers had threatened them.

Referring to a Supreme Court judgment, which held that nobody could intervene in an inter-religious or inter-caste marriage, he said in this case, the couple had not lodged any complaint to the police or any magistrate.

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Earlier, advocate Kalyan Banerjee, counsel for Rehman8217;s family, had argued that the couple had lodged a complaint at Kareya and Entally police stations on August 31, apprehending abduction by criminals hired by Priyanka8217;s father, Asoke Todi.

Today, Roy said only an inquiry and detailed statement of both sides could reveal whether the police had threatened the couple in Lalbazar. 8220;The allegation brought by the petitioner against the police may be true or half true or may even be false. Only a proper inquiry can bring out the truth,8221; Roy said.

Opposing the demand of a CBI inquiry on the death of Rehman, he said it was not acceptable to the state government as the CID was already on the job. The case will come up for hearing on Tuesday.