CALCUTTA: Coming only a week after the visits of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) representatives, the death of another under trail in police custody has further sullied the West Bengal Government’s image.

Subhas Das, 35, who was found dead at the Bhowanipore police station on ‘Oct. 29, was the 24th person to die in police custody this year.

A drug runner and addict, who also ran illicit liquor shop. Subhas had been nabbed from the Kalighat red light area the end of October, where he lived with a sex worker. He was to appear before the SDGM at Alipore court on Sunday.

Officer in Charge (OC) of the police station Gadai Dey refused to accept that the victim had died in the lockup. He tried to explain that Subhas died due to the negligence of the SSKM hospital authorities, where he had been taken early in the morning after he fell sick. The hospital’s medical officer denied the allegation.

However, the Calcutta Police took no chances They suspended two sub inspectors for dereliction of duty and served a showcase notice on Mr. Dev.

Secretary of the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) Sujato Bhadra said that Subhas was a person living on the fringes of socially. “But he was not a hardened criminal.” It’s possible that he might have shown withdrawal symptoms typical of drug addicts, he added

The OC told the APDR that Subhas had to be shifted to another lockup in the night after his in did not ‘end: But the APDR inquiry team confirmed that he (Subhas) was not suffering from any aliment which could have led to a heart failure within the next few hours,

Bhadra said the photographs in their possession showed that the victim had been tortured, “There are clear marks of external injury on his body,” he added. But even if the police’s version of Subhas being an epileptic were true, the officials should have moved him to hospital when his condition deteriorated.

The last custodial death had occurred on September 24 when a40yearold ‘man was found hanging in his cell at the central lockup, Lalbazar. Earlier, such deaths had been reported from Karimpur police station (Nadia district) and Noapara police station. All three incidents occurred within two months. The fear of an electoral backlash had forced ‘the State Government for the first time to initiate proceedings against the OCs of Karimpur and Noapara police stations, Meanwhile, Writers’ Building agreed that the NHRC’s last week’s finding that West Bengal (with 220 custodial deaths during the 18 year old Left Frontrule) had the highest number of lockup deaths in the country, alerted the State Government. But changing the police’s attitude is not a simple task given the rise in the number of crime and criminals.

Article extracted from this publication >> November 10, 1995