INDIA: Two social workers arrested by the Jangipara Police on false charges of committing offences against the state

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information of the arbitrary arrest of two persons named Mr. Ajit Bhar and Mr. Bablu Das by the police from Jangipara Police Station in West Begal, India. Both of the victims were charged for allegedly committing various offences against the state, even though there is no reliable evidence to prove this. It is reported that the two victims were involved in social work that allegedly caused grievance to the Jangipara Police.

Moreover, according to the information received, the two victims have not been brought in person before the Magistrate Court at Srirampur, and only their case records were brought by the police before the Magistrate, which violates the Criminal Procedure Code, the Indian Constitution as well as the West Bengal Criminal Rules and Orders. We request your urgent action to pressure local authorities to correct this matter immediately. 

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of the victims:
1. Mr. Ajit Bhar, 52, of Rajbalhat Village, Jangipara Police Station limit, Hoogly District, West Bengal
2. Mr. Bablu Das of Jangipara Police Station limit, Hoogly District, West Bengal.

Alleged Perpetrators: Mr. Tapas Brati Chakraborty, Officer in Charge (O.C.) of the Jangipara Police Station, Hoogly District, West Bengal

Case details: 

Background information:

The State Government of West Bengal is curbing down on the Naxalite groups, who are followers of the Mao school of thought and are taking arms for “revolution”. However, in the name of fighting “terrorism”, the State Government has indiscriminately arrested many innocent people including social workers, human rights activists, etc. Their houses are ransacked and women are molested and manhandled. These innocent people are taken to lock-ups and kept there without any cause. Moreover, third-degree torture is a common occurrence and fake encounter deaths are also frequently happening. 

CASE 1: Case of Mr. Ajit Bhar

On 17 February 2004, Mr. Tapas Brati Chakraborty, the officer in charge of the Jangipara Police Station arrested Mr. Ajit Bhar for committing various offences against the state. 

Mr. Ajit Bhar comes from a poor family in Rajbalhat village of Hoogly District in West Bengal. He is a weaver by profession and is a member of the Association for Democratic Rights, which is a civil rights organization. He is also well known as a poet and his poems are popular among the rural public. In September 2003, two women came to meet Mr. Ajit Bhar and asked him to help them for their medical treatment. Mr. Ajit Bhar referred them to a nearby doctor. 

On 17 February 2004, some policemen came to Mr. Ajit Bhar’s house and asked him to report to the police station at once. When he went to report at the police station, the Officer-in-Charge (O.C.) of the Jangipara Police Station, Mr. Tapas Brati Chakraborty abused Mr. Ajit Bhar in filthy language and asked why he was attached with the Association for Democratic Rights and why he was involved in campaigning against bride-burning cases. 

The O.C. also asked him to give the names of the two women who had come to meet him in September 2003. Mr. Ajit Bhar replied that since it was an old case he did not remember the names. Then the police arrested Mr. Ajit Bhar immediately on grounds of having some connection with the Communist Party of India-Peoples War (CPIML-PW), and charged him under sections 120B/121/122/123 of the Indian Penal Code. He was arrayed as a co-accused in crime No. 66 of 2003, for committing various offences against the state.

CASE 2: Case of Bablu Das

Mr. Bablu Das is a small vendor of spices who sells spices door to door on his bicycle. He is also a member of the Association for Democratic Rights. 

In 1998, some political goons in connivance with the police of the Jangipara Police Station attacked several cultivators at Chhitbona village on the banks of the River Damodar and tried to evict them from their land. On behalf of those cultivators, Mr. Bablu Das filed a criminal case against some police officers of the Jangipara Police Station, who were allegedly involved in the attack, in the local magistrate court. He also filed a writ petition at the Calcutta High Court against those police officers, thereby annoyed the police.

At midnight between 31 December 2003 and 1 January 2004, Mr. Bablu Das was picked up from his residence by the police force from the Jangipara Police Station and taken to the Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate Court of Srirampur on 2 January 2004 in the same case as of Ajit Bhar. (Jangipara P.S. case No. 66 of 2003 Under Sections 120B/ 121/122/123 of Indian Penal Code)

Current condition of the two victims:

Since their arrest Mr. Ajit Bhar and Mr. Bablu Das have been denied bail and are in judicial custody. However, it is reported that the two victims have not been produced in person before the Magistrate at Srirampur. This clearly violates the Criminal Procedure Code, the Indian Constitution as well as the West Bengal Criminal Rules and Orders, which mandate that the accused must be produced before the magistrate for extension of remand. The verdict of the Supreme Court of India in D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal also has reiterated that the procedural mandates are to be followed. However, according to the information, there is no lock-up in Srirampur Magistrate Court in Hoogly District since it collapsed due to its dilapidated condition. Since then none of Under Trial Prisoners (UTP) are produced physically before the Magistrate at Srirampur and only the case records are brought by the police before the Magistrate.

In India, it is a regular phenomenon that when the state government has grievances against individuals who complain against the police or against the state machinery, those individuals are charged with crimes against the safety and integrity of the nation. In West Bengal, it is reported that there are at least 3,000 UTP who were arrested and have been kept in inhuman conditions since the last two years. Also, in many cases, people are detained illegally without any trial because they do not have any lawyer to defend them. Indian legislation states that the government must provide free legal service by appointing a lawyer for the defendant who does not have the financial capacity to pay for legal services, but in reality this does not happen. 

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or email to the addresses below and express your concern about the case.

1. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
President 
Office of the President, 
Rashtrapati Bhawan, 
New Delhi, 110004 
INDIA
Tel: +91 11 3016767 (Joint Secretary), 3014507 (Personal Secretary)
Fax: +91 11 3017290, 3014570
Email: presssecy@alpha.nic.in or Pressecy@Sansad.nic.in 

2. Shri Justice A S Anand
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission of India
Sardar Patel Bhawan, Sansad Marg, 
New Delhi – 110 001
INDIA
Tel: +91 11 2334 0891 / 2334 7065
Fax: +91 11 2334 0016
E-Mail: chairnhrc@nic.in 

3. Shri Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
Chief Minister and Minister in Charge of Home (Police) Department
Government of West Bengal
Writers’ Buildings, Kolkata, West Bengal, 
INDIA
PIN Code- 700001
Tel: +91 33 2214 5555 (O) / 2280 0631 (R) 
Fax: +91 33 2214 5480
Email: cm@wb.gov.in

4. Justice Shyamal Kumar Sen
Chairperson
West Bengal Human Rights Commission
Bhabani bhavan, Alipore,
Calcutta-700027 
Tel: +91 33 4797259 / 5558866
Fax: +91 33 4799633

5. Ms. Manuela Carmema Castrillo
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
c/o OHCHR-UNOG, 1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006

Sample letter: 

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