Rizwanur case: Human Rights Commission summons 5 cops

The West Bengal Human Rights Commission on Friday summoned five police officers in connection with the mysterious death of computer graphics designer Rizwan-ur Rehman.

 The Commission, however, did not ask Kolkata Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee to appear before it.

A four-member bench of the WBHRC, headed by Justice Shyamal Sen, took the decision after examining two reports. One report was submitted by Additional Chief Secretary (Home Affairs) P R Roy and the other by Kolkata Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee about his controversial press conference where he had defended the police action in the case. The Commission also examined the video footage of the conference.

The five police officers summoned were Deputy Commissioner (headquarters) Gyanwant Singh, Deputy Commissioner (Detective Department-1) Ajoy Kumar, Assistant Commissioner (Anti-Rowdy Section, Detective Department) Sukanti Chakraborty, sub-inspector (Anti-Rowdy section, detective department) Krishnendu Das and Kareya police station's officer-in-charge Swapan Mitra

The body of Rizwanur, who had married Priyanka against the wishes of her industrialist father Ashok Todi, was found on the railway tracks in Dum Dum on September 21.

Asked why the commission did not summon the police chief in spite of his report and the video footage of his media conference, Justice Sen said, "We will call him if the need arises."

Mukherjee's name entered the controversy when former Bengal Ranji Trophy cricketer Snehasish Ganguly admitted that on Todi's request, he had accompanied his brother Pradip to the police chief for lodging a complaint about the couple's marriage.

Sen said the five officers will be called three weeks after the Laxmi Puja, which falls on October.

"We have a lot of records to examine. We will have to send notices to the officers. In between, there will be puja holidays," the WBHRC head said.

The four-member bench, which also include Justice (retired) N C Sil, Justice (retired) S N Roy and Mohammad Nisar Khan, decided to take up the matter under Section 16 of the Human Rights Act.