- By Kamal Kumar
- Mon, 09 Sep 2024 06:10 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Kolkata Rape-Murder: The Supreme Court's tough questions to the West Bengal government on Monday further raked up the questions on the role of Kolkata police, with protesting doctors and opposition parties demanding the removal of the city's police chief, Vineet Goyal. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked for more time. She said that the commissioner can not be let go immediately, given the Durga Puja festivities, which are just around the corner and calls for special stress on law and order.
Mamata said that the police commissioner came to her on several occasions, offering her resignation. As someone aware of the law and order situation of the city, he is needed on the ground for the time being, the CM added.
"Kolkata Police Commissioner has come to me several times last week and offered to resign," Banerjee said.
"We have puja coming up. Someone who is aware of law and order has to be there. If you have patience for a few days, will it be a Mahabharat (big deal)?" she added.
Kolkata police chief Goyal is one of the two key office-bearers along with RG Kar and former principal Sandip Ghosh, who remained the target of both protestors and opposition parties.
A Botched Up Investigation By Kolkata Police?
While the highest court flagged several major loopholes in the initial investigation conducted by the city police in the RG Kar rape and murder case, the parents of the victim also alleged pressure from the cops and administration.
In earlier media interviews, the victim's parents claimed that they were pressurised into immediately cremating her body and a police officer even offered to bribe them to bury the incident.
SC Pulls Up Kolkata Police
In today's hearing at the apex court, the bench flagged that a crucial document linked to the autopsy was missing in the case. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud asked where the challan was, which listed the items of clothing and personal use of the victim submitted for forensic examination.
Without that challan, the postmortem can't be carried out either, the CJI said.
"See the third column on the top, the constable (who brought the body) is supposed to carry this (form). It has been struck off. So there is no reference to this challan when the dead body is sent for examination. You need to explain. If this document is missing, then something is amiss," said Justice JB Pardiwala.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who is a counsel for Mamata Banerjee's government, urged the court to provide more time as he could not immediately locate the missing document. The CBI has also struck a similar tone as the apex court, saying who collected the samples remained a big question.