ASSOCIATION FOR PROTECTION OF DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS
Senpara P.O.Burashibtala, Chinsurah, Dist.
President : Amitadyuti Kumar Phone 033/26801439 (M) 94333046109
Secretary : Ashoke Debray amitdyu@vsnl.net
Ref No. /2008 Dated 28 Feb 2008
mysterious disappearance of Tarun Dey from Sealdah RPF Custody
APDR fact-finding Report
In the last week of January ‘08, an electronic media telecasted a programme on the alleged death in custody of Tarun Dey (17) of Gangadharpur, PS Chanditala, Dist Hooghly. During the programme itself, the family of Tarun Dey contacted APDR over the phone and sought APDR’s intervention in seeking justice in the matter. On 2 February, 08 Sri Becharam Dey of Gangadharpur, PS Chanditala, Dist. Hooghly, a daily wage-earner weaver submitted a written complaint to APDR, about the mysterious disappearance of his only son Tarun Dey. In his complaint, Sri Dey reiterated the allegation earlier made in the TV programme to the effect that his son was murdered in the custody of the Railway police at Sealdah Railway Station sometimes after he alighted from Jaypur Express on 11 January 2008 at about 5 PM.
After receiving the telephonic appeal, an APDR team visited the Sealdah GRP and RPF posts and also talked to the Station Master on 30 January, 08 and tried to ascertain the facts. On 24 February, another APDR team visited the GRP PS in Sealdah. After receiving the complaint from Shri Becharam Dey an APDR team visited the home of Shri Becharam Dey at Gangadharpur on 2 February 2008 and talked to the members of the family and neighbours. The substance of fact finding conducted by APDR is as follows :
1. Tarun Dey (17) s/o Becharam Dey has gone to Jaipur in Rajasthan about a month and half ago to learn the job of a goldsmith like many other youth of the area. He was returning home by Jaipur Express, which was due to arrive at Sealdah Station on 11 January, 2008 at 1.05 PM. The train was running late. Shri Tarak Ch. Adak, maternal uncle of Tarun went to Sealdah Station to receive him. The train arrived at platform no. 9 at 5.05 PM. But he could not found Tarun. He made an extensive search for him in the station area but Tarun remained untracable. On his request, announcements were made through the Railways public announcement system of Sealdah station but did not get any result.
2. On 12 January 2008, worried relatives of Tarun Dey, including his maternal uncle Shri Tarak Ch. Adak,and uncles Shri Tapan Dey and Shri Sanatan Dey and Mahadeb Koley again went to Sealdah station in the early morning with photographs of Tarun and inquired at every possible place.
Their search yielded no result till 5 PM. The officer on duty at the Sealdah GRP PS, police took a copy of photograph of Tarun and noted his physical features, age etc. and advised the relatives to visit the RPF outpost at Sealdah.The personnel at the RPF post told Shri Mahadeb Koley that Tarun Dey was arrested by the RPF for committing nuisance (urinating in between the compartments, they reportedly told) and was sent to the Alipore Central Jail. The anxious relatives went to Alipore Central Jail at around 6 PM, and after much persuasion and payment of a bribe of Rs. 70/- to the warders manning the gate, they were told that no person named Tarun Dey was lodged there.
3. On 13 January 2008 Sri Lakshman Chandra Adak, an employee of National Library and a relative of Tarun Dey went to RPF post at Sealdah with an acquaintance. There he was shown a register containing the name of Sri Tarun Dey S/O Becharam Dey as arrested on 11 January 2008 in case no 37 under section 145 of Indian Railways Act and subsequently released on bail on 12 January 2008 at 11 AM. The sureties were Biswajit Nandy and Amal Mudli. The details of case no, date, name of sureties etc. was written on a piece of paper by one of the personnel present and given to the relatives.
4.On 14 January 2008 Sri Adak went to missing persons’ squad at Bhabani Bhavan. He was told that the missing persons’ squad is unable to proceed/take up the case formally until a complaint is made in the PS under whose jurisdiction the alleged disappearance occurred. He went to Sealdah GRP PS, which diarised the matter only after the receipt of an unsigned note from the RPF post at Sealdah.
5. On 15 January 2008, the missing persons’ squad received the complaint regarding the disappearance of Tarun Dey. From 17 January 2008 to 21 January 2008, friends and relatives of Tarun searched for him at different places such as Muchipara PS, Asansol GRP PS, Burdwan GRP PS, Bangaon GRP PS, Baruipur GRP PS etc. yeilding no result.
6. On 22 January 2008. Sri Lakshman Chandra Adak contacted Sri Bipul Das, a police personnel through a colleague of him named B. N. Naskar. Sri Bipul Das asked Sri Lakshman Chandra Adak to meet him at Sealdah GRP PS on the next day. Accordingly, Sri Adak met Sri Bipul Das on 23 January 2008 and handed over relevant papers to him. Sri Das asked Sri Adak to wait till 5 PM so that he can look into the photographs of the bodies recovered in U D cases from 11 January 2008. The photographs ultimately arrived at about 6-45 PM and amongst the photographs one was of the dead body of Tarun Dey. On 24 January 2008, Sri Adak took Sri Sanatan Dey and Sri Tapan Dey, uncles of Tarun to the Sealdah GRP PS and they confirmed the photograph to be of Tarun Dey.
The story of the police is that they recovered the body from platform no. 5 of Sealdah Station on receipt of a memo from the Station Master, Sealdah at 11-05 PM of 12 January 2008 and started a case no U D no 04/08 dated 12/01/08. Sri Sanatan Dey and Sri Tapan Dey were sent to the morgue at N R S Hospital. On payment of a bribe of Rs 50/- they were shown a highly decomposed and mutilated body which was not Tarun’s. Later, they were told at the Sealdah GRP PS that the body was disposed off as nobody claimed it within 7 days of recovery but did not explain why they did not inform Tarun’s family despite having a missing diary on 14 January 2008 about a person whose body was recovered on 12 January 2008.
Observations of APDR
A. Facts suggest that the RPF arrested Tarun Dey on 11 Jan at about the same time (5.05 PM) when the Jaipur Express reached Sealdah Station. They did not bother to inform the nearones of the victim in blatant contravention of the Apex court directive.
B. The victim had two bags with him containing his personal belongings. There is no record of this in the register of the RPF, who took the victim in their custody.
C. If the claim of the RPF to the effect that the victim was bailed out by two law clerks of the Sealdah Railway court is true, then it is also true that the victim had sufficient cash with him to meet the demands of the law clerks. It is therefore strange that he was not released on paying fines for the offence allegedly committed by him and kept in custody overnight.
D. The family of the victim visited the GRP PS at Sealdah several times in the period between the afternoon of 11 January 08 and 14 January 2008 and from 12 January onwards with copies of the photograph of the victim. The PS recorded the ‘missing’ complaint only on 14 January (Time not mentioned) under GD Entry no. 938 It is strange that the personnel of the PS could not connect the missing victim with the dead body they allegedly recovered from near the RPF post at the Sealdah Main Station on 12 January at about 12 in the night. It is more so because the PS is not a very large one and not a large no. of dead bodies were recovered by the PS during the period.
E The victim’s family members could know about the death of the victim only on 24 January, when using the ‘influence’ of a family friend’s acquaintance, they had a chance to inspect the photographs of the unidentified dead bodies in the jurisdiction of the PS.
F. Reconstructing the events APDR is of the opinion that :
(a) Sri Tarun Dey, s/o Becharam Dey of Gangadharpur, PS Chanditala, Dist Hooghly alighted from the Jaypur Express on 11 January, 2008 at about 5 PM with a valid ticket. After getting down, he was looking for his relatives, who were supposed to be waiting at the platform to receive him. At that time he was accosted by the RPF personnel and taken inside the RPF post, may be for some minor offence as alleged, or simply to extort money as is a well practice of the policemen at duty at Railway stations.
(b) While his relatives were looking for him he was already inside the RPF post and they failed to locate him.
(c) When announcements were made through the Railway Public Announcement system, he either could not hear or was not allowed to respond from inside the RPF post.
(d) His detention was not recorded in the RPF register initially, again as the prevailing practice is to detain unofficially and then release in exchange of money, when family or friends come in search of the victim. No record of release is also naturally remain absent
(e) He was severely beaten in custody. (The nature of beating in Rly PS was witnessed an APDR team which visited the Sealdah GRP PS at about 12 noon on 24 Feb. 08.) As a result of assault the victim died at the RPF post sometimes between 11 January afternoon and 12 January midnight.( Shri S Banerjee, SI, Sealdah GRP PS, who received the body at the PS on 12-13 January midnight said to an APDR team that the body was pale and there were frothing around his mouth)
(f) When the platforms became near empty at about midnight his dead body was dumped near the platform no. 5, to be ‘discovered’ by an appropriate Rly personnel and then to be ‘recovered’ by the GRP.
(g) Registering the bailing out of the victim is an attempt of cover up of the custodial killing with the help of touts acting as lawyers’ clerks. Inability to connect the missing victim with the dead body the GRP allegedly recovered from near the RPF post may not be accidental and may be a part of the cover up.That the victim’s family was shown the photograph of the dead victim only on 24 January was to ensure that by this time the dead body could be legally cremated as an unidentified/unclaimed body after the elapse of 7 days’ time.
Demands of the APDR
(I) Since in this matter of illegal detention, custodial torture, custodial death and attempts to cover up and destruction of evidence by more than one police agency, one under the state authority and the other under the central authority are involved, APDR demands a thorough investigation in the whole matter by an agency which is at least independent of the two accused set ups. A CBI enquiry, or at least an CID Investigation should be ordered.
(II) Some illegal activities like not obeying the apex court guidelines are already proved on paper. RPF personnel responsible for such acts should be punished immediately.
(III) The daily wage earner weaver Becharam Dey lost his only son, the responsibility for which lies on the state. Adequate compensation (not below Rs 5 lakhs) should be pad to the family of the victim.
(IV) Steps should be taken to prevent recurrence of such incident. In this connection APDR wants to refer to a report published in the Dainik Statesman, dated 8 February, which detailed the racket of extortion in the police set up at Sealdah station and harassment of bonafide passengers.
On behalf of the fact-finding team
Bapi Dasgupta
Asst. Secretary,
APDR, Hooghly Dist. Committee
Amitadyuti Kumar
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