INDIA: Police inaction and no effective investigation; nexus between the police and criminals; violation of property rights; life threats; impunity; un-rule of law
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Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from its local partner MASUM in West Bengal regarding the alleged frequent attacks on the life and property of entire family members for over one and a half years due to constant and deliberate inaction by the Maheshtala police in West Bengal state, India. It is believed that the police inaction is due to the nexus between the police and the criminals. With complete police inaction into the victim’s repeated complaints and requests for help, the victim’s family is now living under the shadow of fear for their very lives.
DETAILS OF THE CASE:?
Mrs Sabita Adhikari completed payments of the money required to purchase the land of Mr. Pratap Chandra Ghosal situated at Ghuripara village, Maynagarh post, Maheshtala, Mouza under Maheshtala police station, South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, India. However, despite Sabita’s several requests, Pratap Chandra has delayed executing a sale-deed in her favour. Meanwhile, Sabita’s husband Mr. Sabita Adhikari constructed a building and a shop on the said land. Building tax, electric bills, ration cards and all relevant documents for the records of the government revenue departments are in the name of Sabita.
On 14 April 2005, Pratap Chandra and his wife Namita Ghosal came to the said land along with policemen of the Maheshtala police station and some local antisocial elements and tried to forcibly dispossess Sabita and her family members from their property, saying that the land was owned by them. On the same night, about five men also came to Sabita’s house and violently attempted to enter. They threatened the to murder family if they did not vacate the property.
At around 11:00am on 17 April 2005, Pratap Chandra and his wife again came to Sabita’s house along with a huge group of 70-80 persons and extensively damaged the household articles and took away valuable properties. They also demolished the shop situated in front of Sabita’s house. During the incident, one armed police officer of the Maheshtala police station was present but did not attempt to stop it. The officer further allegedly initiated a false proceeding against Sabita under section of 107 Criminal Procedure Code.
Sabita went to meet the Inspector-in-Charge (I.C.) of the Maheshtolla police station, Mr. Mahapatra, who immediately took her to a doctor for medical check-up. The I.C. also came to the incident place but Pratap Chandra and his men had already left there after taking gold ornaments, utensils and some documents. Sabita Adhikari again went to the police station but was ordered to leave after signing on a blank paper.à®
On 19 April 2005, Sabita’s husband Sankar filed a suit before the Ld. Civil Judge, Junior Division, 6th Munsiff Court (Title Suit no: 135/05) and also a criminal proceeding in Alipore Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate Court (SDJM). The court passed a restraining order against Pratap Chandra. The injunction order was subsequently confirmed and the case is at the stage of final hearing.
Meanwhile, Pratap Chandra allegedly hired a criminal, Ramen Arunday alias Runu to oust Sabita and her family from her property. Ramen’s men allegedly threatened Sabita and her family on several occasions to dispossess them. Despite Sabita’s complaint regarding the threats, the I.C. Mr. Mahapatra and other officers of the Maheshtala police station did not take any action to inquire the incidents and arrest the alleged perpetrators. Rather, Ramen’s men are constantly threatening Sabita’s family saying that the police are at their beck and call.
At around 10:00am on 19 July 2006, Ramen armed with a pistol and other firearms came to Sabita’s house along with his men and began to demolish Sabita’s building with hammers and iron rods and looted gold ornaments and other valuable items. When Sabita Adhikari protested against this, Ramen allegedly attacked her with a sword, wounding her right eye brow, right hand, left leg and other parts of her body. Her husband and other family members were also seriously injured. Ramen also attempted to rape Sabita’s 18-year-old daughter but she was rescued by local people who came to the scene upon hearing the loud cries.
While the attack was going on, Sabita’s sister Ms. Mona Sheet rushed to the Maheshtala police station and reported the incident. But the I.C. and other police officers refused to receive her complaint and even did not attempt to go and save Sabita’s family. Coincidently, some police officers were passing near the incident place with a jeep but they simply ignored it. Without no other alternative, Sabita’s family then rushed to the Superintendent of Police (S.P.) of South 24 Parganas and lodged a complaint and the Additional S.P.-South Industrial referred them to S.S.K.M. hospital. Sabita was admitted at Chittaranjan Medical College and Hospital and discharged from the hospital on 25 July 2006.
Due to the said Additional S.P.’s intervention, the I.C. of the Maheshtala police finally registered Sabita’s complaint against Ramen Arunday alias Runu and three other offenders (Case No. 147/2006, under section of 148/149/443/379/354/427/326 of the Indian Penal Code) but did not start a case of attempt to murder or dacoity against the accused. As a result, the accused were released on bail on the very first date of appearance due to the gross and deliberate inaction by the Maheshtala police. The perpetrators are constantly threatening Sabita’s family with murder and also intimidating other witnesses in order to tamper with the evidence.
Furthermore, on 5 August 2006, Ramen along with his men forcibly entered Sabita’s house and threatened her family to vacate the premises within 24 hours otherwise they would be killed. Sabita immediately lodged a General Diary (G.D.) at the Kalitala Investigation Centre under Maheshtala police station regarding the incident (G.D. Entry No.57, dated 05.08.2006). With complete police inaction, Sabita’s family has now been living under the shadow of fear and insecurity for one and a half years.
The AHRC strongly condemns the deliberate and constant inaction of the Maheshtala police into the entire affair of this case, despite the fact that the victim’s family are constantly harassed and their lives are in great danger. We believe that the police inaction is linked to the nexus between the police and the criminals. We urge the Indian government to immediately provide effective protection to the victim’s family, investigate this case and bring the alleged perpetrators as well as the Maheshtala police responsible for inaction before the courts without further delay. The victim’s family must be awarded adequate compensation as well.
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SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant Indian authorities and urge them to intervene into this matter immediately. Please urge them to order a prompt and thorough investigation about the alleged attempt of illegal land grabbing, attacks and threats against the victim’s family and take strong action against Maheshtala police who are responsible for deliberate inaction about this case.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear __________,
INDIA: A Family is facing constant attacks and attempts on their lives due to alleged collaboration between the police and the criminals
Name of victims:
1. Sabita Adhikari, aged 39,?
2. Sankar Adhikari, aged 46, husband of the victim 1
3. Ratan Chandra Adhikari, aged 78, father of the victim 2
4. Trishna Adhikari, aged 18, daughter of the victim 1
All of them are residing in Ghuripara village, Maynagarh post, Maheshtala police station, South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal state, India
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. Pratap Chandra Ghosal from Ramnagar village, son of Pannalal Ghosal
2. Mr. Ramen Arunday alias Runu from Ramnagar village in Nandirpara
3. Ms. Sova Arundey, wife of Ramen Arunday
4. Mr. Monmatha Halder from Ramnagar village
5. Mr. Kalipada Mondal from Chakchatta Ghuripara village, son of late Tulshi Mondal
6. Mr. Shankar Pal from Ramnagar village, son of late Panchu Pal
7. Bumba from Ramnagar village
8. Mr. Netai Ghosh from Chakchatta Ghuripara village
9. Mr. Kishore Sardar from Uttar Ashuti village, son of late Jatindranath Sarkar
10. Mr. Bitu Mondal from Raipur Ghuripara village, son of Ranjit Mondal
11. Mr. Mintu Das, from Chakchatta Ghuripara village, son of Santosh Das?
12. Mr. Shyamal Ganguly from Chakchatta Ghuripara village, son of Manik Ganguly
13. Mr. Durga Ganguly from Chakchatta Ghuripara village, son of Manik Ganguly
14. Mr. Nirmal Mukharjee, Secretary, Maheshtala, C.P.I.(M) Zonal Committee?lt;br />15. Mr. Tinku Naskar from Ganipur village, son of Ajit Naskar
(All are responsible for committing attacks, attempts to murder and dacoity against the victim and her family) à®?lt;br />16. The Inspector-in-Charge (I.C.) of the Maheshtolla police station and other police officers attached to the same police station?
I am extremely disturbed to learn that entire family have been terrorized by local criminals mentioned above for over one and a half years due to constant and deliberate inaction by the Maheshtala police. After reading the details of the affair I am forced to conclude that the police inaction might be due to the nexus between the police and the criminals. With complete police inaction into the victim’s repeated complaints and requests for help, the victim’s family is now living under the shadow of fear for their very lives.
To briefly explain the background of the case, Mrs Sabita Adhikari completed payments of the money to purchase the land of Mr. Pratap Chandra Ghosal situated at Ghuripara village, Maynagarh post, Maheshtala, Mouza under Maheshtala police station, South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, India. However, Pratap Chandra delayed the execution of a sale-deed in her favour. On 14 April 2005, Pratap Chandra came to the said land tried to forcibly expel Sabita’s family claiming that the land is owned by him. Pratap Chandra also allegedly hired a local criminal named Ramen Arunday alias Runu to oust Sabita’s family from her property. Since then, Sabita’s family have had to experience constant and severe types of attacks, murder attempts and attempted rape by Ramen and his men to the present day.
I am particularly concerned by apparent inaction by the Maheshtala police in this case, which follows as below:
1. On 14 April 2005, when Pratap Chandra and his men attacked Sabita’s family to vacate them, he came along with a policeman of the Maheshtala police station.
2. When Pratap Chandra along with a huge group of 70-80 persons extensively damaged the properties of the victim on 17 April 2005, one armed police officer of the Maheshtala police station was present there but did not attempt to interfere in the matter at all. He rather allegedly initiated a false proceeding against Sabita under section of 107 Criminal Procedure Code.
3. Despite Sabita’s complaint regarding the several death threats by Ramen and his men, Mr. Mahapatra, the Inspector-in-Charge (I,C.), and other officers of the Maheshtala police station did not take any action to investigate them and arrest the alleged perpetrators. The victim’s family was reportedly heard from Ramen’s men that the police were working at the beck and call of the Ramen.
4. On 19 July 2006, Rarem armed with pistol and other firearms attacked Sabita’s house along with his men, demolished Sabita’s building and looted valuable items. During this attack all the victim’s family members were severely injured. During the attack, Sabita’s sister Ms. Mona Sheet desperately sought for help from the Maheshtala police but the I.C. and other police officers refused to receive her complaint and even did not attempt to come to save Sabita’s family. Even some police officers, who were passing near the incident place with a jeep, simply ignored it.
5. Due to the intervention from the Additional Superintendent of Police(S.P) of South 24 Parganas, the I.C. of the Maheshtala police finally registered Sabita’s complaint against Ramen and three other offenders (Case No. 147/2006, under section of 148/149/443/379/354/427/326 of the Indian Penal Code) but all the accused were released on bail on the very first date of appearance as the police did not start a case of attempted murder or dacoity against them. The perpetrators are now constantly threatening Sabita’s family and other witnesses in order to tamper with the evidence.
6. On 5 August 2006, Ramen along with his men forcibly entered Sabita’s house and threatened to kill her family if they would not vacate the premises within 24 hours. Sabita immediately lodged a General Diary (G.D.) at the Kalitala Investigation Centre under Maheshtala police station regarding the incident (G.D. Entry No.57, dated 05.08.2006) but the police have not taken any serious action to investigate the incident and arrest the alleged perpetrators.
In light of above, I strongly urge your immediate intervention into this matter. Please provide urgent protection to the victim and her family who are under severe threats. I also urge you to give investigation authority into the case of alleged attacks, dacoity and death threats by the alleged perpetrators to other independent police agency (not to the Maheshtala police) and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice without delay. The whole process of investigation into this case should be carried out without undue delay, considering long sufferings of the victim’s family. The investigation must be conducted into the alleged inaction of Maheshtala police into this case and the responsible police officers, in particular the I.C., must be punished by law.?
I look for your urgent intervention into this case.
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SEND YOUR LETTER TO:
1. Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
President of India
Rashtrapati Bhawan,
New Delhi
INDIA
Fax: 91 11 23017290
Email: pressecy@alpha.nin.in
2. Mr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India
Prime Minister’s Office
Room number 152, South Block
New Delhi
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 23016857
Email: pmosb@pmo.nic.in
3. Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
Chief Minister/ Minister of Home Department
Government of West Bengal
Writer’s Building
Kolkata – 700 001
West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: +91 33 2214 5480/ 2214 1341
4. Mr. Justice A. S. Anand
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission of India
Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg
New Delhi -110001
INDIA
Tel: +91 11 23074448
Fax: +91 11 2334 0016
E-mail: chairnhrc@nic.in
5. Mr. Nirupam Sen
Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations
235E, 43rd Street, New York 10017
UNITED STATES
Fax: + 1 212 490 9656
Email: indiaun@prodigy.net and india@un.int
6. The Chief Secretary
Government of West Bengal
Writers’ Buildings, Kolkata – 700001
West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: +91 33 22144328
7. Home Secretary
Government of West Bengal
Writers’ Buildings, Kolkata – 700001
West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: +91 33 22143001
Email: sechome@wb.gov.in
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)
