Hotelier thrown in lock-up 'without charge'

TNN | Jan 15, 2012, 03.10AM IST

KOLKATA: No complaints, no charges, no violation of law. Yet, an elderly guest house owner had to spend an entire night in police lock-up on Friday. He had as company two of his relatives who dared to offer help. Tapas Saha, the guest house owner, believes he was picked up as he refused to pay the cops a "monthly hafta".

Saha, a resident of 106 Bangur Avenue, owns a six-room guest house in Lake Town.

"Around 1.30am, two constables came to my guest house and asked me to show the guest register. When they found no fault with it, they spoke to a guest and verified his documents," said Tapan. The policemen then informed Rajib Dhar, inspector-in-charge of Lake Town police station, that nothing wrong was found at the guest house. But the constables were reportedly asked to pick up Saha.

Saha, meanwhile, informed his brother-in-law Gyanbikash Banik and his son Soumyadip Banik, a national shooter. But before their arrival, cops dragged out Saha and took him to the police station. "Without wasting time, we rushed to the police station along with my brother Souradeep and Gaurav, my uncle's son," said Soumyadip.

Initially, the family members were not allowed to enter the police station and the duty officer called up IC Dhar. "Dhar gave some instruction over the phone and they opened the door. Gaurav was talking over the phone some yards away. Soon after we got in, the cops locked the collapsible gate," said Soumyadip. Saha was found inside the lock-up.

"When we asked why they had put my uncle in the lock-up and what he was charged with, they refused to answer," alleged Gyanbikash. The duty officer, meanwhile, received another call from the IC and then asked the sentries to put us behind bars. They made us take off our shoes, shawls and took away our cell phones and watches," said Soumyadip.

Souradeep, who was outside, suspected some thing was wrong and informed other relatives. They even called up Suresh Sharma, a senior Inspector General of Punjab known to Soumyadip. Sharma called up IC Dhar but he did not pick up his call. Saha's relatives then met local MLA Sujit Bose, who tried his best to contact the IC but he dared to ignore his calls. Finally, Bose had to call up senior officers who intervened and told officers to release all three.

"It was around 7am by then. My father and uncle were shocked. They are traumatized after spending five hours in the lock-up without any reason," said Soumyadip.

When contacted on Saturday, Bose said, "His family members met me. I spoke to senior officers to bring them out. Such an act of police will damage the image of the government." Soumyadip on Saturday met Bidhanagar subdivisional police officer Debasis Nandi and lodged a complaint. He even told Nandi that Dhar was applying pressure on Saha for the past few months for "monthly" bribe.

"I refused to pay. This led the officer to teach me a lesson," alleged Saha. Local Trinamool councillor Mriganka Bhattacharya admitted that the IC harassed the family without any reason. "We will take up the matter with his superiors and ask them to take stringent action against the accused officer," he promised.

Lake Town IC Rajib Dhar did not deny that his men picked up Saha. "We found some irregularities with his guest house register and took him to the police station for interrogation," Dhar justified. But when asked how a police officer could put a person behind the bars without a specific case and why his men pushed two of Saha's relatives into the lock-up, the IC refused to comment. SP North 24 Paraganas Champak Bhattacharya, however, said he was not aware of such an incident. "I will enquire into the matter," he said.Police allegedly put an elderly guest house owner and his two relatives behind bars for an entire night, without registering a case at Lake Town on Friday. The guest house owner has reasons to believe that he was picked up and had to face the ordeal because he refused to pay police a "monthly" bribe.

Tapan Saha is a resident of 106 Bangur Avenue and owns a six room guest house in that posh locality in the city's northern fringes. Around 1.30 am on Saturday, two police constables landed at his guest house and called Saha. "They asked me to show the guest register. I immediately gave it and the cops found no fault with the register. They even spoke to a guest who checked in late on Saturday and also verified his documents," said Tapan. But the matter did not end with the sudden check. The policemen informed Rajib Dhar, inspector-in-charge of Lake Town police station that nothing wrong was found at the guest house. But Dhar reportedly was not convinced and asked his men to pick up Saha.

Saha, meanwhile, informed his nephew Soumyadip Banik, a national shooter and brother-in-law Gyanbikash Banik, Soumyadip's father. They reside close to Saha. But before their arrival, cops dragged Saha out and took him to Lake Town police station. "Without wasting a single moment, we rushed to the police station along with my brother Souradeep and Gaurav, my uncle's son," said Soumyadip.

Initially, the family members were not allowed to enter the police station and the duty officer called up IC Rajib Dhar. "Dhar gave some instruction over the phone and they opened the door. Gaurav was talking over the phone some yards away. Soon after we got in, the cops locked the collapsible gate of the police station," said Soumyadip. They found Saha inside the lock-up. "When we asked why they had put my uncle in the lock up and what he was charged with, they refused to answer," alleged Soumyadip and his father Gyanbikash. The duty officer, meanwhile, received another call from the IC and then asked the sentries to put us behind bars too. They made us take off our shoes, shawls and took away our cell phones and watches before shoving us into the lock-up," alleged Soumyadip.

Souradeep, who was outside, suspected some thing wrong and informed all other relatives who queued up in front of the police station. They even called up Suresh Sharma, a senior Inspector General of Punjab, known to Soumyadip. Sharma called up the duty officer who gave the IC's number. But IC Dhar did not pick up his call, claimed Soumyadip. The ordeal continued. Saha's relatives than met local MLA Sujit Bose. The MLA tried his best to contact the IC but the officer dared to ignore his calls. Finally, Bose had to call up superior officers who intervened and told other officers to release all three. "It was around 7 am by then. My father and uncle are shocked. They are still traumatized after spending five hours in the lock-up without any reason," said Soumyadip.

When contacted on Saturday evening, Bose admitted that he had to intervene. "His family members met me. I spoke to senior officers to bring them out," said Bose who conceded such an act of police will damage the image of the government. On Saturday evening, Soumyadip met Bidhanagar subdivisional police officer Debasis Nandi and lodged a written complaint describing their horrific experience. They even told Nandi that Dhar was applying pressure on Saha for the past few months to fix a deal for a "monthly" bribe. "I refused to pay. This led the officer to teach me a lesson," alleged Saha. Local Trinamool Congress councilor Mriganka Bhattacharya, who is also the CIC (PWD) of South Dumdum Municipality, admitted that the IC Lake Town harassed the family without any reason. "We will take up the matter with his superiors and will ask them to take stringent action against the accused officer.

Lake Town IC Rajib Dhar did not deny that his men picked up Saha. "We found some irregularities with his guest house register and took him to the police station for interrogation," said Dhar. But when asked how a police officer could put a person behind bars without a specific case and why his men pushed two of Saha's relatives into the lock-up simply because they had gone to enquire about him, the IC refused comment. SP North 24 Paraganas Champak Bhattacharya, however, said he is still not aware of such an incident. "I will enquire into the matter," said Bhattacharya.

The above incident has occurred in the rule of Mamta Banerjee.
Is it a sign of further things to come?