CALCUTTA: The West Bengal Government has turned down Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh’s request to release the Punjab policemen who killed Kamail Singh in an encounter at Uluberia in Howrah district last week without informing their counterpart here
State Home Secretary Manish Gupta told newsmen here that Beant Singh had telephoned Chief Minister Jyoti Basu last week and requested him to release the policemen.
Gupta said the 10-member Punjab police team led by a deputy superintendent of police had been detained and would be released only after the completion of inquiry ordered by the state government
Gupta said during the telephone talks Beant Singh also apologized to Basu for the police action and explained that the police team could not inform its West Bengal counterpart since it was in a hurry Beant Singh also assured Basu that in future the Punjabi police teams would inform their counterparts before going for any action in West Bengal.
He said the members of the Punjab police team had been kept under protective custody at a hotel near Dunlop Bridge on the northern fringe of the city.
He said he had sent two strongly worded notes on the day to the Union Home Ministry and the Punjab Government condemning the action of the Punjab police He had also referred in the notes to earlier cases where the Punjab police had carried out action in West Bengal without informing the state government.
The action of the Punjab police is highly objectionable and is in violation of all norms and proceedings he said and added it cannot be accepted under any circumstances that police from other state would carry out action in our state without informing us.
Gupta said the body of the Punjab militants that was killed in last week’s encounter would be cremated here. Informed sources however said the Punjab police teams were taking desperate actions in tracking down the militants because of the huge price tags on the head of the so-called militants.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 1, 1994
