Bengal CM suspends cop after ‘custodial death’ of TMC worker

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday suspended Investigating Officer (IO) and transferred Inspector-in-Charge of Kanchrapara Police Station over "custodial death" of a Trinamool worker as CM visited TMC worker's house in North 24 Parganas district's Halisahar. The CM entrusted the District Magistrate of North 24 Parganas to conduct the magisterial inquiry.

Adhikari handed over Rs 10 lakh compensation and gave a job of an attendant from his own quota to the wife of the deceased.

A day after former CM Mamata Banerjee's visit to Halisahar, Adhikari reached the family of TMC worker Birju Keot today morning.


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Admitting to the custodial death and "police negligence", Adhikari said, "Death inside the police lock-up or in custody is clear like daylight. Whether he died due to torture or how he died, the DGP and I cannot say. A post-mortem was conducted by three doctors, with videography being done. Until the post-mortem report is received, no conclusion can be reached," the CM said. "The deceased's family told me that they trust the state administration. They want justice"

Wife of Keot, a former TMC councillor, said the CM has assured all help, and she demanded justice for her husband and submitted a letter to the CM.

She alleged, "My husband was brutally tortured in police custody. Signs of torture could be seen on his body. There was no FIR lodged."

Keot was arrested over various allegations, including extortion. He died mysteriously in the jail on Saturday.

On Mamata Banerjee's claims

Trinamool Congress MLAs-led by Sobhondeb Chattoapdhyay, Kunal Ghosh and others protested on Monday in the West Bengal assembly premises and other parts of the city, against the alleged attack on former CM Mamata Banerjee in Halisahar yesterday.

Meanwhile Adhikari claimed that no BJP workers were involved in the protests against Banerjee in Halisahar yesterday, but she fell victim to "spontaneous public outrage" yesterday.