Kolkata: Youth Died After Allegedly Being Beaten by Police in Unofficial Custody

Kolkata: A youth who was allegedly brought to a police station in Azadgarh for questioning died in a city hospital after getting beaten by the police. The incident has reminded citizens of earlier incidents of police brutality in the state.

The victim, identified as Dipankar Saha, used to run a stationary shop in Azadgarh, as per his mother. The incident happened in the Golf Green police station.

"We are certain that my son has died due to police torture," said Aarti Saha, Dipankar Saha's mother. The family has lodged a written complaint about the incident.

Senior police officers in the city have assured that a proper probe would be conducted into the incident.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM) state secretary MD Salim said that extra-judicial killings have become a state of affairs in West Bengal.

"Police duty now in the state includes threatening people, beating innocents and lodging false cases. They are now being touted as agents of extortion throughout the state; through them, extra-judicial killings are regularly happening. In this question, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh reside at arm's length of West Bengal," he tweeted.

As per reports, two uniformed police personnel visited Dipankar Saha's house and called him for questioning at the police station. He was forcibly taken to the police station despite repeated objections from the family.

After returning home later in the day, Dipankar Saha told his family that police heavily beat him without giving any reason. He was also threatened not to tell anyone about the incident or would be slapped with a drug case and jailed. A few hours later, Dipankar Saha complained of chest and abdomen pain. He was taken to MR Bangur hospital on August 3, where he died a day later.

Dipankar Saha used to work in a garment shop in South India; upon his return to Kolkata, he started a garment sales agency. When the business couldn't pick up, he opened a stationery shop in his area.

Following his death, Dipankar Saha's mother lodged a case of death-in-police torture against the officers at Golf Green police station and demanded exemplary punishment for the culprits.

The postmortem report showed signs of injury in the viral organs.

Police officers at Golg Green police station refuted the allegation, saying that the youth was let off after an initial round of questioning. However, the family has asked how Dipankar Saha was forcibly taken to the police station without any arrest memo.

Police are also trying to say that Dipankar Saha was under the influence of drugs, a charge vehemently refuted by the family.

Subrata Dutta, CPIM Kolkata district committee member, told NewsClick that the party visited the affected family and staged a protest outside the Golf Green police station.

"The way the police beat him up reminded me of Yogi Raj in UP. These sort of happenings have become a routine in West Bengal."