The family members of IIT Kharagpur student Faizan Ahmed, who was found dead on campus under suspicious circumstances nearly 18 months ago, have supported Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s call for a CBI probe into the case.
Sarma on Tuesday wrote to his Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee, suggesting that the probe be handed over to the CBI to unearth the truth behind the mysterious death of Faizan.
Faizan’s mother, Rehana Ahmed, told The Telegraph Online shortly after news of Sarma’s letter broke that she hoped Mamata Banerjee would accept the Assam chief minister's suggestion.
"I would have a chance at getting justice, if Mamata Banerjee accepts our CM's demand. IIT Kharagpur has turned into a zone of death. I just want to know who killed my son and why. Mujhe aur kuchh nahin chahiye [I don't want anything else]. I just want to look at my son's killer and ask why he killed my son," she said.
Rashid Ahmed, Faizan’s uncle, also told The Telegraph Online the family would like a CBI probe.
“We feel the chief minister [of Assam] is right. The SIT [special investigation team] that was constituted to find the truth about Faizan’s death has achieved little in all these months,”
“It will be better if the case is handed over to the CBI,” Ahmed said.
He said the family will consult their legal counsel on this matter.
Faizan, a mechanical engineering student at IIT Kharagpur, was found dead on October 14, 2022.
Dissatisfied with the initial findings of the Midnapore Police and the IIT Kharagpur’s claims that Faizan had died by suicide, the family had moved Calcutta High Court.
A second post-mortem exam, conducted on the high court’s order, had revealed Faizan had wounds similar to a gunshot and stabbing in his neck, which had not been recorded previously.
The press statement issued by the Assam chief minister’s office on Tuesday pointed to the fresh findings.
The press statement issued by the Assam chief minister’s office. Sourced by the correspondant
“There was a gunshot wound on the upper left side of Ahmed’s neck and a stab wound on the right side of his neck,” the CM’s press department statement in Assamese said. “After the shocking findings of the latest forensic report, it is imperative that the perpetrators of the horrific crime as well as any other person involved in concealing the crime are brought to book.
“This would ensure justice to the deceased and closure to the grief-stricken parents,” the statement added.
When the fresh autopsy findings were revealed in court, Faizan’s mother, Rehana, had told The Telegraph Online: “From where do students get guns, swords and knives inside the campus of a premier institute like the IIT?”
CBI probes into deaths in recent times
In the 2006 murder of Tapasi Malik in Hooghly’s Singur, the then Bengal government headed by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had initially ordered a CID probe, but later agreed to a CBI probe as demanded by then principal Opposition leader Mamata Banerjee.
In the Rizwanur Rahman case of 2007, the Calcutta High Court had ruled the investigation carried out by the city police as illegal and ordered a CBI probe into the case.
“It is unlikely the state government will agree to a CBI probe. In that case if the family moves the court, the court can order a CBI probe,” said advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya.
