Tag: CBI probe

Uttarakhand: Fact-Finding Team Alleges Cover Up in Police Probe of Ankita Bhandari Murder

The case shows a “complete breakdown” of the criminal justice system at the most primary level, the report says.

New Delhi: A fact-finding team of a slew of women’s rights organisations has raised doubts about the police investigation into the murder of Ankita Bhandari, a 19-year-old woman who worked at a resort near Rishikesh and was allegedly killed as she refused “special services” – a euphemism for sex work – demanded by a “VIP guest”.

Bhandari was allegedly murdered by Pulkit Arya, the owner of the resort, and his two associates. The job at the resort was Ankita’s first and she had been working there for just over a fortnight. Her body was recovered from a canal near the resort on September 24, 2022. Arya is the son of Vinod Arya, a BJP leader who was expelled from the party in light of the allegations.

The fact-finding team was helmed by members of the Uttarakhand Mahila Manch and involved 30 representatives from women’s groups, mass organisations and women’s fronts, human rights organisations, lawyers and tourism experts from Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka, according to the report. The team visited the site of crime and interviewed the concerned people on October 27-28 and released the report on February 7.

The report claimed that there was “complete breakdown” of the criminal justice system. “The story of the murder of Ankita shows a complete breakdown of the criminal justice system at the most primary level. Several irregularities were committed with malicious intent from [September 19], when Pulkit falsely reported that Ankita had gone missing,” it says.

Also Read: What the Ankita Bhandari Case Tells Us About the Status of Young Women in Uttarakhand

This began, the report says, with the revenue police delaying the registering of the report, which was done 48 hours after her death, on September 20. “And then for another 48 hours, nothing happened and only on the 4th day the case was transferred to the regular police in Lakshman Jhula” on September 22.

The activists also said that Ankita’s father could get a report filed only after running from pillar to post for two days. It also said that authorities at various levels had refused to take the complaint. Questioning the reasons for the delay in the arrest of the accused, the report said, “The arrests only happened on the 5th day, which was [September 23], and the body of Ankita was recovered from the canal where it was stuck near the barrage gate only on [September 24], the 6th day after she was killed.”

In today’s time, such “inordinate delays” in cases of such an urgent nature show a “despicable dereliction of duty” on the part of authorities, the report says.

The resort where Ankita was allegedly killed was partly pulled down with a bulldozer by a BJP MLA Renu Bisht. The team questioned at whose behest the resort was demolished – who granted the permission to do so – and why did the police not seal the scene of the crime immediately after the murder.

Apart from Pulkit Arya, the other two accused include resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar and assistant manager Ankit Gupta. They have been booked under IPC’s sections 302 (murder), 365 (kidnapping or abduction with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to screen offender).

The report also questioned why the police have not named the ‘VIP’ to whom Ankita was pressured to provide “special services”. “The police version, according to testimonies and examining the online and offline booking and visitors register, is that the VIP classification was for any person staying in the Presidential suite,” the report said. Even the former chief minister of Uttarakhand, Harish Rawat, staged a dharna making the demand to reveal the identity of the VIP guest. 

The team urged that the main witness in the case – employees of the resort and a friend of Ankita – should be provided round-the-clock security by the police. The report also raises questions about the working of the state women’s commission and the police.

It may be mentioned that the Uttarakhand high court has turned down a plea by Bhandari’s family demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The family had expressed no confidence in the investigation being carried out by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the police. The court found the SIT investigation satisfactory. 

TOI, which accessed the chargesheet, reported about “pressure” to provide “special services” to the VIP guest. It quoted an SIT officer as saying that Ankita wanted to “escape” the resort as it was a “den of vice.”

ISRO Espionage Case: SC Sets Aside HC Bail to Former Police, IB Officials

‘All matters are remitted back to the HC to be decided afresh on it own merits. This court had not observed anything on merits for either of the parties,’ the bench said.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday, December 2, set aside the Kerala high court’s anticipatory bail to former police and intelligence officers in the case of the alleged framing of former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan in a 1994 espionage case.

The judgement came on the CBI’s appeal against the high court order granting bail to former Gujarat DGP R.B. Sreekumar, two former police officers of Kerala S. Vijayan and Thampi S. Durga Dutt, and a retired intelligence official P.S. Jayaprakash. Sreekumar was then the Deputy Director of the Intelligence Bureau.

A bench of Justices M.R. Shah and C.T. Ravikumar sent the bail applications to the high court and asked it to decide on it as early as possible and within four weeks, LiveLaw has reported.

“All these appeals allowed. Impugned orders granting anticipatory bail passed by HC are quashed and set aside. All matters are remitted back to the HC to be decided afresh on it own merits. This court had not observed anything on merits for either of the parties,” the bench said.

The top court directed the registry of the high court to notify bail applications before the bench concerned within one week from today.

“Till then by way of an interim arrangement, and without prejudice to rights, it is directed that for a period of five weeks and till the bail applications are finally decided by HC on remand, the respondents may not be arrested subject to cooperation in the investigation,” the apex court said.

Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju appeared for the CBI and senior advocate Kapil Sibal appeared for some of the respondents, LiveLaw reports.

1994 ‘espionage’ case

The CBI has registered a case against 18 people for various offences, including criminal conspiracy, in connection with the arrest and detention of Narayanan in the espionage case.

The case, which had hit the headlines in 1994, pertained to allegations of transfer of certain confidential documents on India’s space programme to foreign countries by two scientists and four others, including two Maldivian women.

Narayanan, who was given a clean chit by the CBI, had earlier alleged that the Kerala Police had “fabricated” the case and the technology he was accused to have stolen and sold in the 1994 case did not even exist at that time.

The CBI had said the then top police officials in Kerala were responsible for Narayanan’s illegal arrest.

The SC had on September 14, 2018 appointed a three-member panel headed by its former judge D.K. Jain while directing the Kerala government to cough up Rs 50 lakh as compensation for compelling Narayanan to undergo “immense humiliation”.

The scientist was arrested when the Congress was heading the government in Kerala. The panel, after completing its investigation, submitted its report in a sealed cover to the apex court in 2021.

Terming the police action against the ex-scientist “psycho-pathological treatment”, the apex court had in 2018 said his “liberty and dignity”, basic to his human rights, were jeopardised as he was taken into custody and, eventually, despite all the glory of the past, was compelled to face “cynical abhorrence”.

HC says ‘no evidence’

The apex court had in November last year issued notice on the CBI’s plea filed in the matter.

The agency had said its probe found that some scientists were tortured and framed in the espionage case due to which the development of cryogenic engine was hit, setting back India’s space programme by almost one or two decades.

The CBI earlier alleged there was a clear indication that the accused were part of a team which had ulterior motives to torpedo the attempts of the ISRO for manufacturing the cryogenic engine.

The CBI, while giving a clean chit to the scientist, had said that Siby Mathews had left “the entire investigation to the IB, surrendering his duties” and ordered the indiscriminate arrest of the scientist and others without adequate evidence.

While granting anticipatory bail to these four accused on August 13 last year, the high court had said, “There is not even a scintilla of evidence regarding the petitioners being influenced by any foreign power so as to induce them to hatch a conspiracy to falsely implicate the scientists of the ISRO with the intention to stall the activities of the ISRO with regard to the development of the cryogenic engine.”

Also read: Explainer: The Loose Ends of the Sinister ISRO ‘Spy’ Case

It had said that unless there is specific material regarding their involvement, prima facie, it cannot be said that they were acting against the interests of the country.

LiveLaw has reported that during hearings of this case at the Supreme Court, the latter had said, “The High Court has committed certain wrongs. It has not dealt with Justice Jain committee report, individual allegations not examined. High Court should deal with individual cases individually.”

Meanwhile, the Kerala high court last year also dismissed S. Vijayan’s plea alleging that the ex-ISRO scientist influenced the CBI probe against him back then.

The Gujarat high court in September this year granted interim bail to R.B. Sreekumar in another case in which he had been arrested along with activist Teesta Setalvad for alleged fabrication of evidence in connection with the 2002 communal riots cases.

(With PTI inputs)

Uttarakhand: Ankita Bhandari’s Parents Stage Dharna To Press for CBI Probe Into Killing

Ankita, who worked as a receptionist at Vanantara resort near Rishikesh, was killed in September allegedly by its owner Pulkit Arya and his two associates after she refused to yield to pressure to offer “extra services” to a “VIP” guest.

Dehradun: The parents of Ankita Bhandari on Tuesday held a protest in Rishikesh to demand a CBI probe into her killing.

Ankita, who worked as a receptionist at Vanantara resort near Rishikesh, was killed in September allegedly by its owner Pulkit Arya and his two associates after she refused to yield to pressure to offer “extra services” to a “VIP” guest.

Arya, who is the son of a now-expelled BJP leader, along with the other two accused in the case are behind bars.

Alleging that the SIT probing the case is under pressure to shield the guilty, Ankita’s father Virendra Singh Bhandari said he does not have confidence in the ongoing investigation and his demand for a CBI probe have fallen on deaf ears.

Bhandari and his wife joined the ongoing stir in Rishikesh by a social organisation called Yuva Nyay Sangharsh Samiti to demand justice for Ankita and sat on a dharna along with the activists.

The Samiti has been holding the sit-in and observing a relay fast in the Koyal Ghati area of Rishikesh for more than a month.

“Evidence in the case was promptly destroyed just a day after the crime. Even the rooms in a factory adjoining the resort where the accused lived were set aflame. We don’t have confidence in the SIT investigation,” Ankita’s father said at the protest venue.

He said, “When the evidence itself has been destroyed, how would the guilty be given a stern punishment?”

Bhandari said chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had assured him of a trial by a fast-track court in the case, but nothing happened.

More than a month since the SIT began its investigation into the sensational murder that had triggered massive public outrage, neither a charge sheet has not been filed in the case nor has the name of the VIP been disclosed.

“The SIT is under pressure. It is shielding the guilty. Our demand for a CBI probe into the murder of our daughter has also been ignored,” Bhandari said, adding he wants a death sentence for the guilty without delay.

Calcutta HC Asks WB Govt for Response in Pleas Seeking Probe into Singer KK’s Death

The court was hearing a batch of PIL petitions which called for a CBI probe into the singer’s death, accused the local administration of mismanagement, and questioned the organisers of the event KK was performing at before his demise.

New Delhi: The Calcutta high court on Monday, June 20, directed the state government to file a response in a batch of public interest litigation (PIL) petitions seeking a probe into the death of singer Krishnakumar Kunnath, popularly known as KK, on May 31 this year.

The renowned singer had performed at a concert that same day, organised as part of the Gurudas College fest by the ruling Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) student union in South Kolkata’s Nazrul Mancha. He had performed there the previous day too.

While doctors at the private hospital where the singer was brought before his death said they suspected “cardiac problems” to be the cause of death, the Kolkata police had registered a case of ‘unnatural death’ at the time.

The post mortem indicated that KK had significant blockages in his heart vessels, which led to a heart attack. Some news reports also indicated that the 53-year-old singer had a history of chest pain

Moreover, several individuals, including members of opposition parties, had alleged mismanagement at the concert venue – such as dysfunctional air conditioning and overcrowding – had aggravated the singer’s pre-existing cardiac problems.

One of the PIL petitions in the batch called for a probe into the matter by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for this very reason; alleging negligence on the part of the local administration of Nazrul Mancha and the event organisers, according to a report by Live Law.

Also read: Singer KK’s Death Highlights the Importance of Emergency Medical Services

This plea contended that while the capacity of the venue stands at 2,400 persons, around 7,500 were allowed to enter. Moreover, it alleged that carbon monoxide gas had been released inside the venue.

Another petition questioned the role of the TMC student union, which organised the event. Given that the union is affiliated with the ruling political party, it raised questions as to how Rs 30 lakh was disbursed for the fest despite no elections to the union being held since 2013.

The Kolkata government was represented by advocate general S.N. Mookherjee, who questioned the maintainability of the pleas that KK’s family has not filed any complaint against the ongoing investigation and as such, argued that the demand for a CBI enquiry is not valid.

A two-judge bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj, after hearing the arguments, directed the state government to file an affidavit on the matter within three weeks, giving one week from then for any replies to be filed.

 

Birbhum Massacre Toll Rises to 10 as Woman Succumbs to Injuries

Houses in Bogtui village of Bengal were set on fire after the murder of local TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh.

Rampurhat (West Bengal): A woman, who suffered burn injuries in the Rampurhat massacre in West Bengal’s Birbhum district in March, died on the morning of May 1 while undergoing treatment.

With this, 10 people have died of burn injuries after their houses in Bogtui village were allegedly firebombed following the murder of local TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh.

The woman was admitted to the hospital with 27% burn injuries, a police officer told PTI.

“She was discharged after her condition improved. But, she was again admitted to the Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital after her health condition started deteriorating. She died early Sunday morning,” he said.

The CBI took over the investigation of the incident, which happened on March 20, from the state police on the direction of the Calcutta high court.

Damage Control? Behind Mahua Moitra Contradicting Mamata on Rape and Death of Minor

TMC sources said after Banerjee’s insensitive remarks only worsened the controversy regarding the minor’s rape and death in Hanskhali, she asked the MP to visit the family to reassure them.

Kolkata: “Consensual sex with a minor is rape according to the law,” Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra said on Tuesday at Hanskhali, a small town just outside her Lok Sabha constituency, Krishnanagar, in Nadia district, during a visit to the family of the 14-year-old minor who was allegedly gang-raped on April 5 and hurriedly cremated thereafter as she bled to death. The son of a local TMC leader is the prime accused.

“The question of consent is being talked about. You know, even consensual sex with a minor is illegal, it is rape in the eyes of the law. That’s (the) most important (thing). And the [Protection of Children from Sexual Offences] is being applied here,” she said. POCSO is a special law to deal with cases of sexual assault on minors and has stronger provisions.

Moitra’s comments had legal backing, but they made headlines because the MP differed from statements made by her party’s leader, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Speaking earlier on Monday, Banerjee said, “This was a (case of a) love affair. The family knew of it, the neighbours knew. If boys and girls fall in love, I cannot intervene. It’s not Uttar Pradesh, where you have Love Jihad issues.” She also hinted that the deceased was probably pregnant.

“Of course, no wrongs would be entertained,” the chief minister had said, adding that action had been taken and arrests made. “We are seeing no colours while making arrests,” she said. She proceeded, “The girl died on April 5 but the complaint was lodged on April 10. If there were doubts over her death, why wasn’t the complaint lodged right on that day?” If the body had been burnt, how would the police investigate, she had asked.

The chief minister’s remarks had triggered a controversy, as opposition parties and civil society groups dubbed her remarks as ‘insensitive’, ‘condemnable’ and ‘an attempt to influence the investigation’. Lodging complaints against influential persons often took longer than usual, rights activists argued.

The father of the victim, speaking to journalists, expressed shock at what the chief minister said. “How could she tell those things being the chief minister?” he asked, ruling out the possibility of his daughter being pregnant. Even the mother of the woman who was killed in the shocking 2012 gang-rape and murder in New Delhi told journalists that Banerjee did not deserve the post of chief minister if she made such remarks about a minor girl who had been the victim of sexual violence.

Initially, the rape-and-death made headlines because the prime accused is the son of an influential local leader of the state’s ruling party, the TMC. It also emerged that the police had lodged a first information report (FIR) only five days after the incident, when a local non-government organisation intervened. But Banerjee’s remarks helped it snowball into a controversy in the national media by Monday evening.

Moitra reached the locality in Hanskhali on Tuesday afternoon, sometime before Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, was scheduled to visit. With Moitra’s remarks contradicting her party chief, some eyebrows were raised because the TMC does not encourage leaders to contradict Banerjee in public. Senior TMC leaders later claimed that Moitra went there under instructions from the chief minister herself.

A senior TMC leader, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Wire that Banerjee had “lost her cool” on Monday because the media was “dragging the party” into reportage of “every sort of crime” over the past few weeks. “She had no intention of protecting the culprits. However, sensing her comment intensifying the controversy, she asked Moitra to meet the family and assure them of free and fair investigation,” the leader said, adding that the MP’s visit was part of a ‘damage-control measure’.

Mahua Moitra. Photo: Twitter

Calcutta HC’s stinging observations

Nevertheless, by the time Moitra reached the place, Banerjee’s comments had already been cited before the Calcutta high court where two separate public interest litigations seeking a CBI investigation into the incident had been filed.

“…even the highest executive of the state is calling it to be an incident of ‘love affair’, hence, the people do not have faith that the state police machinery will carry out a fair investigation,” petitioners submitted before the court on Tuesday.

After hearing both sides, the division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj agreed, handing the investigation to the CBI. The bench ruled that “in order to have fair investigation in the matter and to instil confidence in the family members of the victim and also the residents of the locality and the state, the investigation should be carried out by the CBI instead of the local police.”

This was the last thing that the state government wanted – yet another CBI investigation into a case that should ideally have been dealt with by the state police. The CBI swung into action on Wednesday morning. They will have to submit a report before the court by the next date of the hearing, May 2.

Since February-end, different benches of the Calcutta high court have ordered CBI investigations into as many as seven cases pertaining to four incidents – two regarding teacher recruitment scams, two in connection with last month’s massacre in Rampurhat, and two in connection with the murder of a Congress councillor in Purulia district and the subsequent unnatural death of the eyewitness of the murder. The Hanskhali incident became the latest addition.

In all cases, the petitioners expressed a lack of trust in any investigation by state government agencies.

Also Read: Book Review: Will Mamata Banerjee Be A Serious Challenger to Modi In 2024?

With respect to handing over the investigation into the rape and death of the minor in Hanskhali to the CBI, the court observed that the ‘investigation suffers from serious lapses on several important aspects’. The court added that it could “not lose sight of the fact that the accused is the son of a powerful leader of the ruling party and that there is material available in the case diary indicating that the family members of the victim have been threatened.”

The court noted that while the counsel for the state submitted that there was no death certificate because there was no crematorium in the village, the case diary showed that the victim was cremated in the Shyamnagar Atirpur Burning Ghat.

“The fact that there is no MLC (medico-legal case), no post-mortem report and no death certificate also creates a suspicion about an attempt to suppress the entire incident and to wipe out the evidence,” the judges wrote in the order, adding that the case diary further indicated it may well be a case of gang-rape.

Apart from Hanskhali, the incidents in Purulia and Birbhum too had the local police facing allegations of conniving with the perpetrators of crimes enjoying the ruling party’s patronage and helping them escape the long hands of the law.

The court also sought a detailed response from the state government about the petitioners' claim that campaign against the CAA was carried out using public money. Photo: PTI

Calcutta high court. Photo: PTI

Blow to expansion plans?

According to columnist Udayan Bandyopadhyay, who teaches political science at Bangabasi College in Kolkata, the Hanskhali incident does not serve as a good advertisement for a party which plans to expand outside the state.

“When the chief minister or other influential politicians make such remarks before the conclusion of an investigation, the people tend to lose hope for a free and fair probe. The government and the political leadership needs to strictly ensure they take no such action that can dilute the gravity of crimes,” he told The Wire.

Since returning to power with a massive mandate in May last year, the TMC is enjoying a nearly opposition-free political space, with by-elections showing more than two-thirds of the electorate from those localities voting for the ruling party. However, the recent series of developments highlighted an apparent nexus between the police and TMC leaders at the grassroots level and has visibly pushed the party on the back foot. This comes at a critical juncture, as TMC and Banerjee had been hoping to intensify their campaign against the Narendra Modi government over issues like fuel price hikes, inflation and heightened violence against minorities.

Calcutta HC Orders CBI Probe Into TMC Leader’s Murder Linked to Birbhum Massacre

Prayers had been made before the HC to order a CBI probe into the murder of TMC’s Bhadu Sheikh, claiming that the killing of nine people later was in retaliation.

Kolkata: The Calcutta high court on Friday ordered a CBI investigation into the murder of Trinamool Congress leader Bhadu Sheikh, which apparently led to the retaliatory killing of nine people in West Bengal’s Birbhum district.

The high court had earlier ordered a CBI investigation into the killings of the nine people at Bogtui village.

Prayers were made before a division bench presided by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava for ordering a CBI probe into the murder of Bhadu Sheikh as well, claiming that the two incidents were interlinked.

“The CBI is directed to investigate the murder case of Bhadu Sk along with the investigation in the case of Bogtui house burning and murder case,” the bench, also comprising Justice R. Bharadwaj, ordered.

The bench had on March 25 ordered that the probe into the March 21 violence at Bogtui village be handed over to CBI from the West Bengal government-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT).

The state DGP had on March 22 said that the incident of fire in houses at Bogtui took place within about an hour of the murder of Sheikh, the deputy chief of the local panchayat.

The place of the murder of Sheikh is around a kilometre away from Bogtui.

The bench observed that the second incident prima facie seems to be the fallout of the murder of Sheikh.

It said that the object of issuing the necessary direction is to ensure appropriate action against the person responsible for the incident.

“On the basis of the material which is available before us, we are of the opinion that the said object can be more appropriately achieved if the incident of murder of Bhadu Sk is also investigated by the CBI along with the incident of burning of houses and murder of villagers of Bogtui which took place shortly thereafter.”

Also read | Bengal Killings: Amidst Outrage, TMC Leader Arrested After CM’s Visit to Village

The court noted that a progress report of investigation submitted by the CBI before it prima facie suggested that the brutal incident of burning and killing at Bogtui village is the direct fallout of killing of Bhadu Sheikh at 8.30 pm on the same night.

The report also suggested that the incident is the outcome of rivalry among the members of two groups in the village and that the burning of the houses resulting in the death of at least nine persons was retaliatory, the bench noted.

The court directed the state government-appointed SIT to immediately hand over the probe in the case of the murder of Bhadu Sheikh to the CBI along with all the records of the investigation conducted so far as also the accused persons who have been arrested.

The bench directed the CBI to file a report of investigation in both the cases on the next date of hearing on May 2.

Lawyers for the applicants submitted during earlier hearings that in order to have a complete investigation and to unearth truth behind the incident of burning of nine persons, the investigation of Bhadu Sheikh’s murder should also be done by the CBI as both the incidents are interconnected.

Counsel for the CBI submitted that the agency has no objection in conducting the investigation in Bhadu Sheikh murder case but this prayer should have been made earlier.

He submitted that it is better if the investigation is done in both the cases by the same agency as both are interlinked and that will also facilitate trial of the cases before the same judge.

Opposing the prayer for transfer of the case to CBI, Advocate General S.N. Mookherjee submitted that there is no allegation that the investigation in the case of the murder of Bhadu Sheikh is not being done properly by the SIT.

On the submissions by all the parties in the matter, the bench said that the allegation of the applicants that both incidents form part of the common conspiracy and continuous cause of action cannot be ignored.

“It is also worth noting if one agency investigates both the incidents then not only it will be easier to unearth the truth but it will also facilitate trial before the same competent Court,” the bench said.

The bench presided by the chief justice had on March 23 suo motu taken up the case of the gruesome incident on March 21.

A set of PILs seeking CBI or NIA probe into the incident, were also taken up for hearing along with the suo motu petition lodged by the court.

Calcutta High Court Orders CBI Probe Into Birbhum Killings

The court directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the West Bengal government to hand over case papers and accused persons arrested by it to the central probe agency.

New Delhi: The Calcutta high court on Friday ordered a CBI investigation into the Birbhum killings in which eight people, including two children, were charred to death earlier this week.

The court directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the West Bengal government to hand over case papers and accused persons arrested by it to the central probe agency.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice R. Bharadwaj directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file a progress report by April 7, the next date of hearing of the matter.

The bench said that the CBI probe was being ordered in the interest of justice.

Eight people, including two children, were charred to death in Bogtui village of Bengal’s Birbhum district in the suspected fallout of a Trinamool Congress (TMC) panachayat official’s murder.

The bench had suo motu taken up the case of the gruesome incident.

A set of PILs seeking a CBI or NIA probe into the incident was also taken up for hearing by the court along with the suo motu petition.

With Family’s Mistrust in SIT Probe, TMC Faces the Heat in Anish Khan Death Case

The state government has formed a special investigation team to probe the incident. However, the family has demanded a CBI investigation as it has alleged the involvement of the police in Anish’s murder.

Kolkata: The “mysterious” death of 29-year-old student leader Anish Khan, a resident of Amta village in West Bengal’s Howrah, which led to widespread protests across the state, has put the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government on the back foot.

Anish, a leader of the Indian Secular Front (ISF), was a vocal critic of the TMC government and the Union government. He was a prominent face in various campaigns against the policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR).

On February 18, Anish was found dead in his room. His father Salem Khan claimed that four persons – all of them dressed in police uniform – barged inside his home after midnight on the same date, after forcing him to open the door. Three of them went upstairs and pushed Anish from the second storey of the house under construction.

On February 21, the state government formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the incident.

Khan’s father insisted that since the state police were allegedly involved in the death of his son, he had no faith in the SIT set up by the police to investigate the case. He has, therefore, demanded a CBI investigation into the incident.

According to news reports, he has also been demanding the arrest of senior police officers and a few TMC panchayat leaders in Howrah district.

The Calcutta high court had on February 24 directed a second post-mortem to be conducted in the alleged murder case under the supervision of a district judge. But the family had turned down the SIT’s proposal for a second post-mortem on the body of Anish in the presence of a magistrate amid allegations that the first one was done without following proper procedures.

On February 26, the police failed to exhume the body amid protests by villagers. Two days later, after taking consent from the family members, the police was able to take the body for the second post-mortem.

The family members had also taken part in a test identification, or a TI parade, at the Uluberia police station. A TI parade is done to identify the accused before the court. However, the accused, in police uniform, who had allegedly barged into the house, were not present there.

Till now, the police have arrested a home guard and a civic volunteer under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.

Also read: Amidst Talk of Mamata-Nephew Rift, TMC Dissolves All Posts in the Party

Opposition parties have also alleged that a section of TMC leaders were behind Anish’s murder. The West Bengal government has rubbished these charges.

According to BJP leader Dilip Ghosh, it’s “an eyewash by the Mamata Banerjee government to arrest two local police officers who are themselves claiming that they acted according to the order of the senior police staff”. The officer-in-charge of Amta police station is absconding. “We want answers from the Mamata Banerjee government,” he said.

Sujan Chakraborty, a CPI(M) leader, asked, “Why did the government arrest two local police leaders in the alleged murder of Anish Khan,” adding that the local police work according to the instruction of the senior police officers.

“The one who gave instructions should be arrested first. Just because the police officer who had given instructions is close to the state government, it has not arrested him. We want a clean picture of the entire incident,” he said.

Meanwhile, some political experts believe that the whole issue has been politicised by the opposition. Others feel that the TMC government should come out of this imbroglio and resolve this situation with a fair probe.

Asim Shahnawaz Shibli, professor of Maulana Azad College, said, “Anish Khan’s death is really unfortunate and we condemn it in clear terms. The fact is that the opposition parties, particularly the Marxist, are trying to disturb peace in the state; they are putting up hindrances before the course of the SIT investigation by the state government. The chief minister also wants the truth to come out and that is why she has ordered for an SIT and the Calcutta high court has also endorsed it. Now we are sure the truth will come out only if the families cooperate with the SIT members.”

When asked about the CBI investigation that was demanded by the family members, Shahood Alam, secretary of All India Milli Council, West Bengal, said: “The CBI conducted many investigations which did not bear any results. They could not unearth the truth behind the theft of Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel Prize. They could not find out the real culprits behind the Nandigram violence. So why this furore over a CBI investigation. We want the truth to come out and Mamata Banerjee till now is going in the right direction.”

Papiya Chakraborty, senior political analyst at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, said, “Anish Khan died under mysterious circumstances. The family alleged that Anish was killed by the police. The chief minister hastily constituted an SIT. The family blatantly refused to give anything, including the mobile phone of Anish, to the SIT and openly pitched for a CBI investigation. The district police is closely related and involved with the TMC. Nothing new in it.”

Biswanath Chakraborty, senior political analyst and professor of political science at Rabindra Bharati University, said, “People want a free and a fair probe on the death of a student leader, and the TMC government will go all out to investigate the matter as it is now a question of their image. Therefore, the matter needs to be seen when the SIT submits their report.”

ISRO Case: Kerala HC Dismisses Plea Claiming Nambi Narayanan Influenced CBI Probe

Former Kerala Police officer S Vijayan had alleged that the former ISRO scientist influenced the CBI probe by entering into land deals worth crores with the then investigating officials of the agency.

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Monday dismissed the plea of a former police officer, accused of falsely implicating Nambi Narayanan in a spying case in 1994, who had alleged that the ex-ISRO scientist influenced the CBI probe against him back then.

Former Kerala Police officer S Vijayan had alleged that Narayanan influenced the CBI probe by entering into land deals worth crores with the then investigating officials of the agency.

Justice R. Narayana Pisharadi dismissed Vijayan’s plea. The detailed order is awaited.

Also read: Explainer: The Loose Ends of the Sinister ISRO ‘Spy’ Case

Vijayan, along with 17 other former Kerala police and IB officials, is facing a CBI probe for allegedly falsely implicating Narayanan and some others in the 1994 spying case.

Vijayan had argued before the high court that he had placed before the trial court encumbrance certificates of several acres of land in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu which show Narayanan or his son as power of attorney holders.

These lands were sold to the CBI officials, Vijayan had alleged and contended that this material was sufficient for the trial court to order an investigation under the Prevention of Corruption Act against the scientist and the agency officials.

The high court, however, had said that encumbrance certificates do not prove sale of land and asked Vijayan to show the actual sale deeds.

The high court had also said that sanction to prosecute would also be required for the trial court to order an investigation.

Vijayan and three others were granted anticipatory bail by the high court in August in the CBI’s conspiracy case against them.

Besides the four, 14 others are named as accused in the case for various offences, including criminal conspiracy, kidnapping and fabrication of evidence in connection with the arrest and detention of Narayanan in the espionage case.

Besides Narayanan, two Maldivian women – Mariyam Rasheeda and Fouziyya Hassan – were also arrested and detained in the case. The two women were jailed for over three years before being released.

The two Maldives nationals recently moved the CBI requesting it to place before the Supreme Court their claim for damages of Rs 2 crore from each of the 18 officers who are arrayed as accused in the conspiracy case being probed by the agency.

The women have urged the agency to place their claim for damages before the apex court when it hears CBI’s appeal against the Kerala High Court order granting anticipatory bail to the four accused – a former DGP of Gujarat, two former police officers of Kerala, and a retired intelligence official – in the conspiracy case being probed by the agency.

The agency, in its appeal, has sought cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to the four accused by the high court on August 13.

(PTI)