Key witness in hooch deaths trial shot dead

KOLKATA: Less than three weeks before the trial in Bengal's worst hooch tragedy was to start, a crucial witness was gunned down on Wednesday on a bustling road in Mograhat, a few steps from the local police station. The victim, 32-year-old Abdul Aleem Sk, had dared to take on dreaded gangster Selim Laskar, who was once the mentor of hooch don Khora Badshah and is now working with him, say sources.

The hooch tragedy trial was initially supposed to be held in Diamond Harbour court but the fear of intimidation of the 228 witnesses prompted CID to shift it to Alipore court.

Aleem was a rights activist and had recently joined the Congress. Seven months before the hooch deaths, he had led some locals in demolishing Badshah's hooch dens in Mograhat. He was also instrumental in the reopening of a two-year-old unnatural death case of van-rickshawpuller Hara Fakir. The CID has taken over this case too, since Selim is suspected to be behind the 'murder'.

Selim was suspected to be involved in CPM's Operation Sunshine — the armed recapture of Nandigram — after being arrested from a guest house in Mahisadal in November 2007. He was chargesheeted for possession of illegal firearms.

There is a history of witnesses turning hostile or going silent in cases against Selim, say sources. After Aleem lodged an FIR against Selim and his henchman Mujibur, a counter-FIR was lodged by Mujibur two days later. Surprisingly, while Aleem's FIR (case No. 325, Nov 22) was lodged under bailable sections of rioting, the FIR against him (case No. 328, Nov 24) had non-bailable charges.

Police find clue to killers, hopeful of breakthrough. Aleem moved court for bail and was granted his plea on Tuesday on the condition that he meet his investigating officer at Mograhat police station at regular intervals.

A day later, he was murdered soon after his first visit to the police station.

"Aleem had gone there with three other people. I, too, met him outside the police station. We were talking when Aleem said he needed to go to his office at Gazipara crossing, barely five minutes away," said a witness, who refused to reveal his identity. The friends split up.

"He was alone when he was shot twice in the head. The street was bustling with people and almost everyone saw the killers. The police reached there within minutes," he added.

Aleem's family was too caught up with the post-mortem and other legal formalities to lodge a complaint, said a relative. ASP-rural, South 24-Parganas, Kankar Prasad Barui said police have a "near clear idea" to which gang is behind the killing. "We are hopeful of a breakthrough soon. There are no arrests yet," he said.

Aleem had recently been elected the Congress block president, said district Congress leader Sujit Patowari. "He was murdered by Trinamool-backed criminals," Patowari alleged. Local Trinamool MLA and newly inducted minister of state for minority affairs Giyasuddin Mollah rejected the allegation, saying: "How can Trinamool be linked to this?"

I think this is a continuing affair.

A witness to a crime gives a statement to the police and then just before he can appear in court, he is bumped off so that the criminals escape.

Some changes should be made in the trial procedure.

If any witness is bumped of before a trial, it should be assumed that all that the witness said was true and the court should take appropriate decision.

Further we have examples of witness turning hostile because of threat or inducement, which allows the criminal to go unpunished.

If any witness gives a statement in front of a magistrate, then that statement should be treated as sacrosanct and the witness cannot later retract the statement. The judicial process shall continue as if the statement given was true.