The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed Murlidhar Sharma, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Training, at the state police academy, to file a report regarding allegations of physical torture made by Leftist student leader Sucharita Das at an all-women police station in Paschim Medinipur district.
Allegations & Court’s Directives
Das filed a petition claiming that she was taken to the all-women police station in Medinipur town on March 3 during a protest outside Vidyasagar University and subjected to physical torture.
Justice Tirthankar Ghosh ordered Sharma, a senior IPS officer, to examine CCTV footage and all available digital evidence from the police station in light of the accusations. The court set a deadline for Sharma to submit his report by March 25, with a follow-up hearing scheduled for March 26.
Background
The allegations emerged amid rising student protests in West Bengal. On March 5, Leftist student unions organized a strike across colleges and universities in response to violent incidents at Jadavpur University on March 1, coinciding with the visit of state Education Minister Bratya Basu for a meeting.
Response From Authorities
Justice Ghosh also instructed the officer-in-charge of the all-women police station to submit an affidavit in opposition to the accusations by April 9. The petitioner must reply to this affidavit by April 17.
West Bengal Advocate General Kishore Dutta countered the allegations, stating that CCTV footage of Das’s time in the police station exists and shows no evidence of torture. He asserted that she was served food and that her lawyer, who met her shortly after, did not raise any concerns at the time.
Dutta clarified that Das was released at approximately 1:09 AM the following day, emphasizing that it was a case of preventive detention due to the agitation rather than a formal arrest.
Additional Allegations
The court also noted that it would hear a separate petition from another student leader, Susrita Saren, over similar allegations on Wednesday.
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