05-West Bengal.pdf - People's watch

informed to South Bidhan Police Station but they remained silent over the issue. Bablu and Shyam were
repeatedly harassing the family. They also threatened the tenants to create problem. On 29 th January
2008 Chandrabati Palle, W/o Dilip Palle, one of the sons of Sasadhar was beaten up. Monika, another
relative was also subjected to torture. The perpetrators lodged a complaint against these women at
Bidhan Nagar Police Station, following which they were arrested along with two children namely Gourab,
aged 15 and Animesh, aged 14. The police also hailed abuses upon the victims. They were released
after three hours of detainment, being implicated in a false case.
FF Code : W.B./MON(S. Mukhtar Ahamed)/
District- North 24 Parganas/ July-23/07/08/ Sl.No.- 134
Victim(s) : Debasish Das
Perpetrator(s) : 1) Shyamal Sarkar, IIC 2)Prasanto Kumar Sahana, SI 3) Police
4) Suman Saha 5) Medical Superintendent 6) Doctors
Location : Sovabazar, Jorabagan
Date of incident : 09/07/2008
Case Details:
Victim Debasish Das, aged 38, is a driver residing in Nandan nagar village, falling under the jurisdiction
of Belghoria Police Station. He was the driver of the car of Mr. Suman Saha, an owner of a factory
situated at Sovabazar. The victim took leave for two days and resumed his duty on 9 th July 2008. The
very day he took his owner to Sovabazar and parked the car in front of Bank of Baroda. As it was
drizzling Debasish parked the car in a shade. Not finding the car in the expected place, Suman lodged
a complaint at Belghoria Police Station stating that the victim absconded with the car. Accordingly
Debasish was arrested the same day at night by the SI of Belghoria and Jorabagan Police Stations
respectively. The car and a blue colored plastic bag were seized from him. At Belghoria Police Station
Debasish was tied with a rope and suspended, following which he was beaten by the IIC and all other
policemen present at the station during that time. A case was started against him according to the
complaint lodged by his owner. On 10 th July 2008 the victim was taken into police custody for four days
by the order of the court, during which he was subjected to repeated torture every night. The IO of the
station demanded Rs.50,000 in order to settle the case. Debasish was neither produced before the court
on the date of hearing, nor taken to the hospital. Finally the matter came to the knowledge of the court and
the victim was advised for treatment at R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, Kolkata on 14 th July 2008.
The matter came to the knowledge on the media also. In the meantime the IO requested the doctor to
discharge the victim but was denied owing to Debasish’s critical condition. The advocate of the victim
filed a petition in the court alleging that the medical reports were manipulated at the influence of the police.
Debasish was produced before the court on 19 th July 2008 and was released under bail. The family
members of the victim state that the incident might have been caused under the influence of the ruling
party, who were responsible for the death of the victim’s brother ten years ago, and moreover Debasish’s
sister Deepa Biswas was a committee member of the opposite party.
West Bengal
448
Annual Report on Torture
2007