INDIA: Police’s deliberate inaction in a murder case despite court directives 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from MASUM, a human rights organisation in West Bengal, about the complete disregard for a court orders by the Beldanga police in a murder case in West Bengal, India.

According to the information received, Mr. Saidul Mullick, a potato vendor, left home on 29 November 2004 with about Rs 70,000 (USD 1,600) along with his business partners to purchase potatoes. However, his dead boy was found on the railway track near Rezinagar railway Station on 2 December 2004. The post-mortem was conducted on the body of Saidul but the victim’s family claims that the post mortem report does not state the actual cause of death.

After the post-mortem, when the victim’s wife, Mrs Dilruba Bewa tried to register a case of murder against his business partners, the Beldanga police allegedly not only refused to do so but also threatened to book her under a false case. Even though the Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Ms Indrila Mukherjee, directed the Beldanga police to register the case and submit a report, they did not comply with court orders. On 29 March 2005, Dilruba submitted another complaint to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Ms Yasmin Fatema, regarding the police inaction in her husband’s case. The magistrate once again directed the Beldanga police to register the case and investigate the matter, however the officer-In-charge of the Beldanga Police Station refused to do so, stating that it was a case of suicide. Furthermore, the Superintendent of Police, Murshidabad District, also allegedly encouraged the police inaction by saying that the case inquiry was over and found to be death by suicide and not murder.

The AHRC is deeply concerned by the deliberate disobedience of the court’s orders by othe Beldanaga police in this case. Please send a letter to the Chief Minister of West Bengal and urge him to take immediate action to register the case without further delay and ensure that an impartial and thorough investigation is conducted into this case by the independent police agency (not by the Beldanga police). A proper post mortem must be performed on the victim’s body to be able to determine the actual cause of death. Please urge him to take disciplinary/legal action against those officers who have refused to follow court orders.

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

Name of the victim: Mr. Saidul Mullick, age 30
Complainant: Mrs Dilruba Bewa, the victim’s wife
Address of the victim: Benadah village, Beldanga Police Station, Murshidabad District, West Bengal, India
Date of incident: 29 November 2004
Case Status: Intentional inaction to pursue the case by the police mainly the following:
1. Mr. Arun Kumar Das, officer-in-charge, Beldanga Police Station, Murshidabad District
2. Mr. Sanjay Singh, Superintendent of Police, Murshidabad District

Case Details:

On 29 November 2004, Mr. Saidul Mullick, a potato vendor, was called on by two of his business partners belonging to the Devkundu village, under the jurisdiction of Beldanga Police Station, West Bengal, India. He left the house with the duo at about 4:30am with Rs 70,000 (USD 1,600) in his pocket to purchase potatoes. As he did not return home till evening, his wife, Mrs. Dilruba Bewa, went to Devkundu to look for him but she could not find any of the three persons. At the same night, one of the business partners came to her house and told her that Saidul would be returning only later. When her husband still did not return for three days, Dilruba lodged a complaint of his missing with the Beldanga Police Station on 1 December 2004.

The next day, Saidul’s dead body was found on the railway tracks near the Rezinagar Railway Station of the Sealdah-Lalgola section. The railway police seized the body registering it as an unnatural death after conducting a post-mortem. However, Dilruba’s neighbour, Ms Hoshna Arrah alias Bulbul who is a lawyer by profession, says that the post-mortem report does neither reveal the actual cause of death nor state whether it was a murder or suicide.

When Dilruba went to the Beldanga Police Station to claim her husband’s body and to file a First Information Report (FIR) against Saidul’s business partners, she was not only refused by the police personnel but also threatened that they would impose false charges on her if she did so. Dilruba then took the case to the district magistrate and Ms Indrila Mukherjee, the Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) at that time, directed the Beldanga police to register a case and submit a report which they failed to do so. Dilruba also took her case to the West Bengal State Human Rights Commission and the Chief Minister of West Bengal but no serious action has been taken by those authorities to inquire in the case.

On 29 March 2005, Dilruba complained to the SDJM that the police were refusing to file her complaint regarding her husband’s murder and tried to hush up the case, insisting that it was a case of suicide. The Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Ms Yasmin Fatema, once again ordered the Beldanga police to file her complaint, conduct an enquiry and report back to the court. However, the Beldanga police deliberately disobeyed the court’s order merely making an excuse that the officer-in-charge (OC), Mr. Arun Kumar Das, was on leave and it was not possible to pursue the matter in his absence. However, it was later found by reliable sources that the OC was very much on duty at the time.

When MASUM spoke to the OC, Mr Arun Kumar Das, he categorically stated that though the Beldanga police received orders of the SDJM, they had not complied with it and were not doing so in future as well because it was a pure case of suicide. In the meantime, the Superintendent of Police (SP), Murshidabad District, said that the case inquiry was over and it was found that it was found to be death by suicide and not murder. As regards the court’s directive a second time, the SP further said that the General Railway Police would be asked to conduct an inquiry into the case as “the place of occurrence” falls under their jurisdiction.

In many cases, such police inaction is a very frequent phenomenon in India. However, what is most surprising in this case is that the police even refused to heed even the judiciary. This case once again points to the absolute failure of rule of law in India. The AHRC strongly urges the Government of West Bengal to immediately file this case and carry an independent and thorough investigation into the victim’s death (not by the Beldanga police). We also urge that those police officers who deliberately refused to register the case and disregarded the court’s orders should be punished as this is contempt of court.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter to the Chief Minister of West Bengal requesting him to order an immediate and thorough investigation into this case. Please also ask him to take action against those police officers who intentionally refused to register the above case.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER