Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation in West Bengal, about another custodial death of a man at the Santaragacchi Government Railway Police Outpost, (SGRPO), under Shalimar Police Station, West Bengal, India.

On 15 June 2005, Sunil Roy was travelling in a train to Howrah. According to the police version, the Railway police arrested Sunil after some passengers at Santaragacchi accused him of pick pocketing. He was then taken to the lock-up. The very same night, the Santaragacchi police informed Sunil’s family of his death saying that Sunil committed suicide by hanging himself from the iron gate of the lock-up. When Sunil’s family rushed to the police outpost, they were surprised to find that the police had already taken the victim’s body to Howrah morgue for post mortem. Due to the absence of an autopsy surgeon at the Howrah morgue, the body was sent to Kolkata for the post mortem.

Sunil’s family suspects that the police tortured him to death. The Executive Magistrate of Howrah, who held the inquest, said that the victim had torture scars on his head, nose, back and legs. Sunil’s family also reported that even though Sunil’s son lodged a written complaint with the Shalimar Police Station, the Officer-in-Charge (OC) did not register it as a First Information Report (FIR).

We call for your urgent intervention. Please ask the Director General of Police, West Bengal to immediately order a thorough and impartial investigation into the incident. Please also urge him to ensure that the post mortem is conducted properly by independent and professional doctors. Police personnel responsible for Sunil’s death should be punished if the allegation of torture is to be found true. The results of the post mortem should be made available to all those concerned.

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

Name of the victim: Sunil Roy, 45 years old, son of Suresh Chandra Roy

Address: Shyamsunder Chack Colony, Bauria, District Howrah, West Bengal, India

Place of incident: Santaragacchi Police Outpost, under the Government Railway Police Station, Shalimar

Sunil Roy (45) was a fish trader and went to Howrah every day for business. On 15 June 2005, Sunil left his home around 10:00 a.m and boarded the local train to Howrah. According to the police, when the train reached Santaragacchi, some passengers in his compartment, suspecting him of being a pickpocketer, held him and officers of the Santaragacchi Police Outpost, under the Government Railway Police Station, Shalimar, picked him up and took him to the lock-up. However, the police failed to both provide the memo of arrest and inform Sunil’s family members of his arrest.

At about 11:30 p.m. on the same day, the police informed Sunil’s family of his death. They claimed that he had committed suicide by hanging himself from the six feet high iron gate of the lock-up with his belt.

When Sunil’s family rushed to the police outpost they found that the police had already taken the body to the Howrah morgue for post mortem and hearing this they too went to Howrah. However, due to the absence of an autopsy surgeon, the post mortem could not be performed there and the body was sent to Kolkata. The post mortem took place on June 17.

Sunil’s family suspects that the police tortured the victim to death and are attempting to cover up the incident as a suicide case. Mr Ram Krishna Mondal, the Executive Magistrate of Howrah, who held the inquest on the victim’s body, supports this allegation by confirming that Sunil had torture scars on his head, nose, back and legs. The family also insisted that Sunil was carrying Rs 6,000 (USD 12) and a monthly railway pass but the police claimed that they recovered only Rs 60 from him and no monthly pass.

Sunil’s son, Avijit Roy lodged a written complaint with the Shalimar Police Station but the Officer-in-Charge (OC) did not register a First Information Report (FIR) based on this and his complaint was not even written in the general diary. When MASUM’s fact-finding team questioned Mr S.K. Naskar, Sub Inspector and OC of the Shalimar Police Station and asked him why the FIR had not been registered, he simply replied that he had not been on duty on that day as he was attending a conference in Kharagpur and everything had happened during his absence.

MASUM’s fact-finding team also raised questions about the credibility of the police version of how Sunil was taken into custody. They said that there was no witness of the case and the people who allegedly charged Sunil with pick pocketing were not present when the arrest was made. From the above facts it is evident that the police did not follow any guidelines or procedures for arrest or detention. They arrested Sunil in the absence of a formal complaint, did not inform his family and did not produce him in front of the Magistrate, all of which is mandatory by Indian law.

The police action in this case also completely disregards the guidelines given by the Supreme Court in the famous D.K. Basu Vs West Bengal 1997 judgement, which has laid down specific guidelines required to be followed while making arrests. It is also surprising that the police claim the victim died by committing suicide in the lock up using his belt. According to police and jail manuals, to avoid incidents of suicide, articles such as belts, ropes etc should not be available to the person under detention. The police once again acted contrary to the rules laid down and carried the body to the morgue without the consent of the family members.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter to the Director General of Police, West Bengal urging him to immediately order an impartial investigation into this incident.