Calcutta High Court on Thursday told the Paschim Medinipur superintendent of police to appoint a “competent” police officer to probe the death of an IIT Kharagpur student.
Justice Rajasekhar Mantha issued a slew of orders pertaining to the death of Faizan Ahmed, a third-year student of mechanical engineering from Assam, following a writ petition from his family expressing dissatisfaction with “the tardy investigation by the local police authorities”.
Highlights of the order
- The superintendent of police, Paschim Medinipur, has been asked to appoint a competent senior police officer to inquire into the death of Faizan, whose decomposed body was found in his room at the Lala Lajpat Rai Hall of Residence, on the IIT campus, on October 14.
- The officer has been asked to question a student whose room adjoins the one where Faizan stayed.
- The report of the questioning has to be produced on November 10, when the case will be heard again.
- The police have to appear in the court on November 10 with a copy of the FIR, drawn on the basis of a complaint filed by Faizan’s family at Kharagpur Town police station, and the case diary. The family has alleged that Faizan was murdered. The investigation officer, too, has been asked to appear in the court.
- The court has ordered the police to conduct a viscera examination of the deceased. The viscera report and post-mortem report have to be produced on November 10.
Calls and text messages to Dinesh Kumar, the Paschim Medinipur superintendent of police, about Thursday’s order went unanswered.
Amit Patra, deputy director of IIT Kharagpur, said: “We will comment after studying the order.”
During the hearing, Justice Mantha asked how ragging could go on at IIT Kharagpur, as alleged by Faizan’s family, despite a Supreme Court order banning it.
The writ petition has said that Faizan had declined to be part of an “assimilation programme” at the Rajendra Pratap Hall of Residence in February and March, which, the petitioners contended, was a “glorified term” for “collective ragging”.
The family has alleged that Faizan was humiliated and harassed because of his refusal to be part of the programme.
Faizan’s mother, Rehana Ahmed, told The Telegraph over the phone from Assam that they were grateful to the court for taking note of their grievance about the “inept probe” by the police.
“We hope the new officer will show his competence in... ensuring us justice. We hope the court will also grant our prayer of a court-monitored probe by a special investigation team,” she said.
Samar Layak, investigation officer of the case at Kharagpur Town police station, was present at the court. Contacted later, he declined to comment.
Aniruddha Mitra, one of the lawyers representing Faizan’s family, said they were happy that the court had asked the police to question a fellow boarder. “The interrogation could resolve the mystery behind Faizan’s death,” he said.