The CBI will re-examine its standard operating procedures for handling accused people in its custody in Bengal when senior officers meet Ajay Bhatnagar, the additional director of the central agency, on Tuesday, sources said.
Bhatnagar is scheduled to meet officers in Calcutta to take stock of the progress in different cases in Bengal, including the carnage in Birbhum’s Bogtui. Lalon Sheikh, a key accused in the Bogtui case, died in CBI custody on Monday.
Senior officers said the discussion on the Bogtui case was likely to trigger several questions on whether the investigating officer had taken adequate measures to prevent any suicide attempt by Lalon while in custody, whether the washroom’s door had enough clearance — below and above — for an official to keep an eye on Lalon in keeping with norms and if the officer was aware of the accused’s mental state following his questioning for hours.
“The investigating officer of the case will be removed from his job and replaced with a new one,” said a senior CBI official.
Lalon’s death — inside the washroom of the temporary camp office in Rampurhat — has already stirred a political storm with chief minister Mamata Banerjee questioning how the key accused died in CBI custody while condemning his death.
A section of BJP leaders in Bengal has demanded a probe into Lalon’s death with some of them demanding that it come clear whether the incident happened due to some form of “pressure”.
On Tuesday, a section of CBI officers admitted that Lalon’s custodial death would have a bearing on officers dealing with several politically sensitive cases in Bengal.
The agency’s hands are full as it is probing into several lesser-discussed cases like post-poll violence, the murder of Purulia’s Congress leader Tapan Kandu, the alleged rape of a minor in Nadia’s Hanskhali to the more sensitive ones including the multi-crore cattle smuggling case, the alleged coal pilferage case and the alleged recruitments of teachers in government-aided primary schools.
“The investigating officer of the Bogtui case will face a murder charge following Lalon’s death and he will remain accused of murder till the time the inquiry is over,” said a senior CBI official.
“The Rampurhat-incident will force other officers to measure their steps carefully while investigating other pending cases.”
Several officers pointed out how Lalon’s wife Reshma Biwi, in her complaint on Tuesday, held the investigating officer of the cattle smuggling case responsible for her husband’s custodial death along with two other senior officers even though he wasn’t probing the Bogtui killings.
Several prominent figures including Anubrata Mondal, the Trinamul’s Birbhum president, Subires Bhattacharya, former vice-chancellor of North Bengal university, Kalyanmoy Ganguly, former president of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE), and Raju Sahani, chairman of Halisahar Municipality are among those arrested by the CBI.
The cross-currents of claims and counter-claims in Bengal’s political pitch following Lalon’s death will prompt many officers to tread slowly with due diligence, the officials said.
