Calcutta High Court on Tuesday set up a special investigation team (SIT) led by IPS officer Muralidhar Sharma for a probe into the alleged torture of student activists inside the Midnapore Kotwali police station on March 6.
Justice Tirthankar Ghosh of Calcutta High Court, while setting up the SIT, observed that “primarily it has been proved that two female students were tortured inside the police lock-up”.
The judge also said: “It seems that one sub-inspector Kuheli Saha had tortured
two students.”
The SIT has been directed to file its report by four weeks.
As the case is registered against the police, Justice Ghosh said: “The human rights commission would have to adjudicate the case one day.”
The two student activists — Sucharita Das of the SFI and Sushrita Soren of the DSO — were allegedly picked up by a large force of policewomen on March 6. They were taken to the Midnapore Kotwali police station and allegedly tortured mercilessly till 2.30am of March 7.
They were arrested while protesting against police atrocities on students following a protest by the SFI after a member of the students’ wing of the CPM was injured on allegedly being struck by education minister Bratya Basu’s car on March 1.
Justice Ghosh in his order on Tuesday also hinted that the police had tried to tamper with the video footage that was submitted in court.
Appearing for the student activists, senior advocate Jayanta Narayan Chatterjee narrated how his clients were tortured inside the police lock-up.
“Both the students were tortured mentally and physically. Both of them were severely injured and denied treatment in Midnapore. They had to come to Calcutta for treatment,” Chatterjee claimed.
Appearing for the state, advocate general Kishore Datta had opposed Chatterjee’s submission and claimed that the students had been served snacks and tea by the police.
The AG had also claimed that students were only detained for interrogation and were allowed to speak on the phone.