A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee visited Rizwanur Rehman’s family, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Sunday visited Rizwanur’s grieving mother and reiterated her demand for a CBI inquiry into his mysterious death soon after his marriage with Priyanka. Residents of Tiljala Lane, where Rizwanur lived, marched in a silent procession wearing black badges to mark their protest on the day of Id-ul-Fitr. Banerjee also participated in the rally. Referring to Rizwanur’s death as “state sponsored terrorism”, Mamata reassured her support to Rizwanur’s family and asked them to carry on their fight against injustice. “We demand a CBI probe. Only a CBI probe can expose the guilty,” Mamata said. She added that IPS officers, who had allegedly pressurised Rizwanur to part with his wife Priyanka, should be removed till the probe is complete. She insisted that the probe will not be objective until the tainted officers were removed. She said that Priyanka’s father Ashok Todi’s name had earlier featured in a cricket betting racket and such allegations should be seriously probed. Rizwanur’s brother Rukbanur also said the family is still firm on its demand for a CBI probe. After the march, Rukbanur said the rally was a protest against Rizwanur’s death and police highhandedness, and it should not be seen in a communal perspective. Rukbanur and a few locals left for Gobra cemetery to pay their respects to Rizwanur. Meanwhile, the CID has already sent a letter to the state forensic science laboratory to expedite the process of finding the death cause. “We expect the report to reach us by next week,” said Bhupinder Singh, ADG CID. The CID is awaiting the forensic report after which it will consult the autopsy surgeon for his final opinion to ascertain the cause of death.Ashok Todi and some senior police officers in the state are in the eye of a storm for allegedly intimidating the youth to opt out of the marriage.
