Murder Of BJP Worker & Alleged Forceful Cremation By Police: Calcutta High Court Directs State To File Affidavit
The Calcutta High Court has directed the state to file a status report in the form of an affidavit in a plea alleging the murder of a BJP worker and forceful cremation of his body by the Police. The High Court has also directed the state to provide security to the petitioner, the wife of the deceased BJP worker.
The Bench of Justice Jay Sengupta ordered, "In the meantime, the State shall ensure safety and security of the petitioner and shall take proper steps in this regard. The State shall produce the case diary on the next date".
A writ petition was filed by the wife of Dipak Samanta, a BJP worker. As per her plea, her husband participated in the political campaign for the 2023 Panchayat Elections. During this time, the supporters of the ruling party threatened the petitioner's husband and forcefully entered their house, assaulting both the petitioner and her husband. Although a complaint was filed, no action was taken by the police authorities. Subsequently, the miscreants attacked the petitioner's husband again, causing severe injuries that eventually led to his death.
Advocate Subir Sanyal, representing the petitioner, argued that while the authorities failed to investigate the assaults on the petitioner and her husband, they also took custody of the petitioner's father-in-law's body. The police proceeded to cremate the body deceitfully. On the other hand, Advocate Anitesh Banerjee, representing the state, claimed that there were disputes between relatives over the property which is given political colour and that the deceased committed suicide. DSGI Billwadal Bhattacharyya appeared on behalf of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the proceedings.
The Court directed the state to file a report in the form of an affidavit incorporating the sequence of events and the steps taken by the police authority, not only about the murder but also about the assault on the alleged victims. "The report should also contain a copy of the postmortem report of the deceased", the Court directed.
Accordingly, the Court directed that the matter be listed on July 13.
Cause Title: Smt. Baishali Samanta @ Baisali Maparu (Samanta) v The State of West Bengal & Ors.
