Dear friends
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man named Babai Biswas, 22, was killed by police officers after being arbitrarily arrested and tortured. I urge you to take strong and immediate action to correct this matter.
Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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Name of victim: Babai Biswas (22 years old)
Perpetrators:
1) Dibyendu Banerjee, Inspector of Police, the then Officer in Charge (OIC) of the
Thakurpukur Police Station
2) Avijit Sengupta, the then Deputy Superintendent of Police(D.S.P) (Town) Jadavpur,
(now promoted to Additional Superintendent of Police)
3) Dr. Sunil Kr. Ghosh, the then Superintendent of District Hospital
4) Dr. S.C. Tudu
5) G.C.Saha, Executive Magistrate
6) Benu Das, Sub Inspector of police
Period of detention and torture: from 8 April to 9 April 1997
Current status of the case: pending at court
DETAILED INFORMATION:
Babai Biswas, 22, was arrested at 6/56/1 Bijoygarh Golony by police officers, led by the Sub Inspector (SI) Amrita Kumar Majumdar, on 8 April 1997. The police took him to the Keorapukur Temporary Outpost, then to the Thakurpukur police station lock-up, and from there to Jadavpur Dist. 24 Parganas (South), to the chamber of Mr. Avijit Sen Gupta (Deputy Superintendent of Police). On 9 April 1997 at about 2:00pm, the police brought Babais dead body to the Bangur Hospital. Dr. Tudu declared Babai dead, and refused to give the police a death certificate with the cause of death as ‘natural.’ The police then contacted Dr. Sunil Ghosh, the officiating District Medical Officer, who directed Dr. Tudu to issue a death certificate stating Cardiac Respiratory Failure.
Mr. G.C.Saha, the Executive Magistrate, examined the body at about 11:00pm on 10 April although he had never examined a body at night before. He also admitted to having “a few talks” with Avijit Sengupta, DSP (Town) before he went to the morgue of M.R.Bangur Hospital. Shri Saha only recorded an abrasion on the left forearm.
The post-mortem examination was carried out by Dr. A. K. Nandi of the Department of Forensic & State Medicines, Calcutta. The following are examples of the 29 injuries found on the body of Babai Biswas, contrary to the findings of the Executive Magistrate:-
(1) Linear abrasion 1″ placed obliquely over lateral margin of Rt. upper eyelid.
(2) HAEMATOMA 7″ X 5″ over Rt. flexor of large intestine.
(3) Interior surface of Rt. lobe of liver adherence of clotted blood over an area of 1 ½” in diameter.
(4) Omentum related to intestinal coiles contain blood all along the mysentery including the adjacent areas of intestine.
(5) Evidence of about one of litre liquid and clotted blood inside the abdominal cavity.
According to the forensic expert, the injuries were caused by the application of brute force, and were ante-mortem and homicidal in nature.
According to police, Babai was arrested due to a complaint made by Babua Chakraborty. However, Babua Chakraborty stated before the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC) that he had made no such complaint. Police also said they seized a revolver loaded with 3 live cartridges from Babai. In the seizure list prepared by the police, Mr. Lakshman Samanta and Mr. Sanjay Mondal were recorded as witnesses, but they later stated before the WBHRC that they neither saw Babai when he was arrested, nor did they see the seizure of the revolver from Babai Biswas. They said that they were called to Keorapukur by police on 10 April 1997 and were compelled to sign a document without knowing its contents. Afraid of disobeying, they signed.
In an attempt to show that on the night of 8 April 1997 Babai was assaulted by some criminals, the police brought a case against Papan and others for allegedly assaulting Babai on the night of 8 April 1997. The evidence of this case was an alleged letter mentioning the assault from one Pinku Gayen, an absconded criminal wanted in a number of cases. However, Smt. Swapna Andrew, the aunt of Pinku with whom he used to live, testified to the WBHRC that the letter was not the handwriting of Pinku. (See: – WBHRC Annual Report, 1997-1998). Then the WBHRC submitted a detailed report to the state government that the policemen had murdered Babai in custody.
After this WBHRC submission, the Late Amal Narayan Biswas, father of the victim, filed a First Information Report (FIR) on 10 April 1997. The police later said that the report was missing. The police then filed the case and submitted a Charge Sheet against 1) Dibyendu Banerjee, Insp. Of Police, the then Officer in Charge of Thakurpukur PS; 2) Amrita K Majumdar SI (committed suicide after initiation of police case) 3) Avijit Sengupta, the then DSP (Town) Jadavpur, (now promoted to Additional Superintendent of Police), 4) Dr. Sunil Kr. Ghosh, the then Superintendent of the District Hospital, Tudu 6) G.C.Saha, Executive Magistrate, Benu Das, Sub-inspector.
The Judicial Magistrate (JM), Alipur, brought the trial to the Court of Session. The father of the victim, raised an objection to the improper manner of the police investigations, but the JM rejected this petition. Thereafter, the victim’s father went to the High Court under its Criminal Revisional Jurisdiction, and this case is still pending.
Aside from this, the father of the victim also filed a petition to the Supreme Court of India for clarification of what he believed were unjust proceedings in the Court of Sessions. However, the Supreme Court directed the trial to continue at the Court of Sessions and did not conduct its own investigation of the case.
The mother of the victim, Smt. Ava Biswas, also sought permission for an appointment of a Special Public Prosecutor on her behalf, but the court turned her down, as did the Legal Remembrancer, Government of West Bengal.
The Court of Sessions directed the Investigating Officer of the case to produce the seized documents relevant for the case, but the prosecution did not produce them, and on 29 June 2001 the Public Prosecutor pleaded that a good number of vital seized documents had been “destroyed” and / or “completely damaged due to rain and white ants.” The Judge allowed the suggestion of the police, although all of the documents were to be judicial records. Against that order, Ava Rani Biswas directed an enquiry by a senior officer of the Crimes Investigation Dept. (CID) to trace the seized document. This never-ending legal battle continues.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or e-mail to the addresses below expressing your concern about this serious case.
1. Dr. P.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. Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya
Chief Minister
Government of West Bengal
Fax: +91 33 22145480
Email: cm@wb.gov.in
4. Shri Justice Mukul Gopal Mukherji
Chairperson
West Bengal Human Rights Commission
Bhabani bhavan, Alipore,
Calcutta-700027
Tel: +91 33 4797259 / 5558866
Fax: +91 33 4799633
5. Mr. Nisith Adhikary
Minister in Charge, Judicial Department
Government of West Bengal
Fax: +91 33 2214 4036
Email: micjudicial@wb.gov.in
6. Mr. Theo C. van Boven
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917-9016
E-mail: <mailto:secrt.hchr@unog.ch>secrt.hchr@unog.ch
7. Ms. Asma Jahangir
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: 92 42 5763 234
Fax: 41 22 917 9006 / 92 42 5763 236
Email: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch / asmalaw@brain.net.pk
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear
Re: A young man was killed by police officers after being arbitrarily arrested and tortured
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Babai Biswas, alias Debashis Biswas, aged 22, was killed by police officers after being arbitrarily arrested and tortured. The case is currently pending. The perpetrators of this act who tortured Babai Biswas to death, go on unpunished six years after his death, and in fact have been promoted. Moreover, the police officers attempted to fabricate the evidence on the case. Also, this case clearly illustrates that the Government of India has failed to establish the rule of law. Detailed information of this serious case is attached. Please take strong and immediate action to correct this matter.
The perpetrators are:
1) Dibyendu Banerjee, Inspector of Police, the then Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Thakurpukur Police Station
2) Avijit Sengupta, the then Deputy Superintendent of Police(D.S.P) (Town) Jadavpur, (now promoted to Additional Superintendent of Police)
3) Dr. Sunil Kr. Ghosh, the then Superintendent of District Hospital
4) Dr. S.C. Tudu
5) G.C.Saha, Executive Magistrate
6) Benu Das, Sub-inspector of Police
I urge you to bring the above perpetrators to justice immediately and to provide compensation to the victim's family according to international law. I also urge the Government of India to take strong and speedy action to ratify the Convention Against Torture (CAT), implementing it in domestic law in order to eliminate torture and extra-judicial killings.
Sincerely yours
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Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
