A seven-member team of officers from Calcutta police was formed on Wednesday to probe the unnatural death of Maidul Islam Middya, the 33-year-old DYFI leader who had joined last Thursday’s Left march in Calcutta that saw clashes between the police and Left supporters.
The probe team is headed by joint commissioner (crime) Murlidhar Sharma.
Sources said the probe would include examination of witnesses (on-duty policemen and Maidul’s friends and colleagues), corroboration of statements with available CCTV footage and verification of findings with the nature of injuries he had sustained.
The Left alleged police excesses on Thursday caused Maidul’s death on Monday, and that they would accept nothing less than a judicial probe. “We demand judicial investigation….How can we trust the SIT formed by the Calcutta police? The Calcutta police is the accused here,” DYFI spokesperson Kalatan Dasgupta told The Telegraph.
The police said Maidul’s preliminary post-mortem report suggested superficial abrasion on the knee and no marks of injury on internal organs.
Officers of New Market police station, under whose jurisdiction the incident had happened on Thursday, had earlier sought details of Maidul’s medical treatment history from CPM leader and doctor Fuad Halim, who had treated the youth.
In another development, DYFI activist Dipankar Sengupta, arrested for allegedly assaulting an on-duty police officer in protest of Maidul’s death on Monday, was produced before a city court on Wednesday and was remanded in judicial custody till February 20. He is among the 250-300 Left supporters and leaders booked for allegedly assaulting a police officer, among others.
Sengupta’s lawyer said he had shown the judge signs of police atrocity on his body following his arrest on Tuesday. The police have denied beating up Sengupta.
Source: https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/calcutta-police-to-probe-unnatural-death-of-dyfi-leader/cid/1807016
