The family has appealed to the judiciary and the Governor to provide central security and ensure their safe movement to the Calcutta High Court, so they can seek justice without fear.
KOLKATA: In the aftermath of the April 11 violence in Samserganj, Murshidabad, where a father and son—Haragobinda Das and Chandan Das—were killed, their family has now approached top constitutional authorities for protection.
In a letter sent to Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court T.S. Sivagnanam, and West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, the family has alleged that they are facing intimidation by the West Bengal police.
The Das family, who have been staying at the residence of a BJP worker in Salt Lake, Kolkata, for the past one week, alleged that a team from the Murshidabad police forcibly entered the house on Sunday morning and harassed them.
However, the police have denied these allegations. According to them, the police acted on a written complaint filed by a family member of the deceased, which stated that the Das family had been abducted.
As per the police, a few officers from the local police station in Murshidabad visited the Salt Lake residence on Sunday because they wanted to speak with the family members to verify the complaint.
But the Das family disagreed with the police version and claimed that the police did not come for a normal inquiry. Instead, the officers broke open the door and forcibly entered the house.
After receiving news about the incident, several BJP leaders, including Shankhudev Panda, Tarunjyoti Tiwari, and Sajal Ghosh, reached the spot and reportedly got into a heated argument with the police.
In their letter, the family clearly stated:
“…we provided a formal statement (to the police) clearly stating that we had come to Kolkata on our own volition and were under no duress. Despite our cooperation, the IO continued to attempt to intimidate us, though his efforts were in vain. We were left shaken and traumatised by the brazen conduct of the officers involved, particularly Sankar Narayan Saha (Inspector-in-Charge), Rakesh Ray, Bablu Das, Manik Mondal, Kaushik Ghosh, and Chaitanya Das, who all harassed and attempted to intimidate us in clear abuse of their authority. We therefore plead with folded hands for urgent protection and intervention. We request that appropriate Central forces be deployed to ensure our safety and that we be provided secure passage to the Hon’ble High Court so that we may seek justice under the Constitution of India.”
The family has appealed to the judiciary and the Governor to provide central security and ensure their safe movement to the Calcutta High Court, so they can seek justice without fear.
In response to the tense situation, BJP leaders have said that the Das family has now been shifted to another undisclosed location for their safety.
The Calcutta High Court on earlier ordered the establishment of a three-member committee to identify and rehabilitate individuals displaced by the violence during the protests over the Waqf (Amendment) Act in Murshidabad district.
A division bench, consisting of Justices Soumen Sen and Raja Basu Chowdhury, confirmed that its interim order from April 12, which mandated the deployment of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) in Murshidabad, would remain in effect.
The court stated that the committee will include an official from both the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC), as well as the member secretary of the State Legal Services Authority (SLSA).
The court said,
“We deem it appropriate to constitute a committee consisting of three officers who shall monitor and coordinate the situation,”
The committee is tasked with identifying displaced persons, assessing the damage to victims’ properties, and collecting data on the FIRs filed. It will also facilitate the filing of FIRs by victims and manage the welfare of the displaced individuals during this interim period.
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