03-West Bengal Report.pdf - People's watch

On 29 October, the nursing home authorities arranged for two cars to send Haldar’s body home
with two of his female relatives. About two kilometres from Haldar’s house, the drivers and staff
forced the relatives out of the car with Sukanta Haldar’s body. The cars returned in the direction
of the Nursing Home.
The female relatives were stranded all night on the road with the dead body.
In the morning, between 1400 to 1500 people gathered with and the relatives and Haldar’s body.
They blocked the road and protested against the Nursing Home staff’s actions.
Jalangi PS SI Tuhin Biswas and ASI Somnath Sinha arrived on the scene with other police
officers. They threatened to fire their guns and to perform a lathi charge if the crowd did not
disperse. The crowd did not disperse. The police assured the crowd that they would conduct
a proper investigation. They also falsely told the crowd that they had already arrested the
doctors responsible for Haldar’s death.
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At the police station, Haldar’s cousin submitted a written complaint. However, the SI refused to
accept it. The SI tore up the complaint and dictated his own version, Haldar’s cousin signed the
complaint.
The police then initiated a case under ss. 201/204A/34 IPC (negligence, disappearing evidence,
etc.). However, the police did not allow Haldar’s cousin to provide evidence in this case.
Haldar’s cousin has also lodged complaints with the Superintendent of Police, Baharampur,
Murshidabad; the District Magistrate, Murshidabad; the Chief Medical Officer (Health),
Murshidabad; and the Director General of Police, West Bengal. No action has been taken.
On 28 December 2006, Jalangi PS SI Tuhin Biswas forced Haldar’s cousin to withdraw his
complaint. Jalangi PS Officer-in-Charge Somnath Bandyopadhyay asserted that a humanrights
activist with bad intentions had doctored the complaint.
Annual Report on Torture
2007