Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal on Monday said no evidence of police asking for a bribe from the driver of classical vocalist Ustad Rashid Khan or using abusive language against his wife has been found as was alleged by the artiste’s wife earlier this month.
“The enquiring officers have submitted their report. It was claimed that abusive language was used and bribes were asked for, but during our enquiry, no such evidence cropped up. So this particular enquiry has found no policeman guilty of asking for any bribe or abusing the complainant,” Goyal said on the sidelines of a Christmas event at Park Street on Monday evening.
Ustad Rashid Khan’s wife, Joyeeta Basu Khan, had alleged that the police had stopped her car on the EM Bypass on December 7 and threatened to implicate the driver in a drink-driving case if he did not pay Rs 2,000.
Basu Khan had said the vehicle was on its way to the airport to drop off musicians who had performed with Rashid Khan at a show. The driver, whose breathalyser test, the police had said, gave a reading which was more than double the permissible limit, was taken to Pragati Maidan police station along with the vehicle where Basu Khan and her daughter later came.
Ustad Rashid Khan too went to the police station the next morning, as the vehicle was registered in his name.
The police had initiated a probe under an officer of the rank of joint commissioner of police.
When contacted, Basu Khan told this newspaper on Monday evening: “The police did not have the courtesy to even inform me that there was an investigation going on, leave aside the outcome. I submitted the audio recordings I had. But after that, no one bothered to even call me or gave me a chance to explain my version. What kind of inquiry was this?”
