05-West Bengal.pdf - People's watch

FF Code : W.B./ MON (Amrita Rana)/
District- Howrah/ March-07/03/2008/Sl.No. 59
Victim(s) : Surajit Saha
Perpetrator(s) : Partha Chatterjee, Traffic Sergeant
Location : Kolkata
Date of incident : 04/03/2008
Case Details:
Victim Surajit Saha, aged 32 is a resident of Howrah. On 4 th March 2008 the victim and his friend Ajay
were passing through B.B.D Bag area in his own motorbike bearing number WB-12 S-9433. Surajit
stopped the bike at the road crossing. A Traffic Sergeant Partha Chatterjee came to the victim and
demanded the driving license. When the victim produced the same, the officer started writing something
against Surajit. When asked the reason, the officer stated that the helmet he was wearing was not
bearing an ISI mark. Another person crossed that way without wearing a helmet. Surajit questioned the
police for leaving him, which angered him and began to rebuke the victim stating to mind his own
business. He also threatened to take Surajit to the police station owing to which the victim left the place.
Ajay was witnessing all these and recorded the conversation in his mobile, and also took few snaps of
the incident.
FF Code : W.B./Mon (S. Mukhtar Ahamed)/
District-24 PGS (N)/Jan-02/01/08/Sl.No.-100
Victim(s) : Residents of Angrail
Perpetrator(s) : 1) BSF Officials 2) Tushar Kar, OIC
Location : Angrail, North 24 Parganas
Date of incident : -
Case Details:
Large populaces of farmers are residing in Angrail, falling under the jurisdiction of Gaighata Police
Station. The area is located near the Indo-Bangladesh border. Everyday thousands of cattle are transported
to Bangladesh and the smuggled cattle are driven through the cornfields of the villagers, causing serious
damage to the land. Most of the villagers belong to the lower income group and have to cultivate crops
taking loan from the bank. Hence they are not able to repay the loan. The cattle caught by the BSF
officials are auctioned at cheap rates. Fifty percent of the cattle are auctioned at the rate of Rs.1,300 to
Rs.2,000 whereas the market value is Rs.17,000 to Rs.22,000. The best quality cattle were smuggled
to Bangladesh with the help of a section of BSF by paying Rs.6,000 to Rs.7,000 per trip. The camp
commander has a good number of cattle stocked in a cowshed duly guarded by the BSF Officials. Few
local influential people having political inclination also play a vital role in this. Daily hundreds of Bangladeshi
citizens are involved in illegal trading across the border in connivance with the BSF. Villagers were
frequently tortured by the BSF Officials if they dared to protest against such atrocities. A local farmer
Khagen Bala was allegedly murdered by the smugglers on 18 th June 2006. Though mass petitions
were submitted to various higher authorities it yielded no fruit.
West Bengal
481
Annual Report on Torture
2007