The Supreme Court on Tuesday accepted the CBI findings in the Rizwanur Rahman case – that it was not murder, but a case of suicide. We present the peculiar facts of the case and the twists and turns over the years.
Rizwanur Rahman, 30: A computer instructor working in an institute in Kolkata and had specialised in graphics. He came from a poor middle class family but was well educated.
Priyanka Todi, 23: A student of Rizwanur's and the daughter of industrialist Ashok Todi -- the maker of Lux Cozi branded undergarments and hoisery. Estimated worth: Rs 200 crore.
Pradip Todi: Brother of Ashok Todi.
Anil Sarogi: Brother-in-law of Ashok Todi.
What happened
Rizwanur and Priyanka fell in love and got married on August 18, 2007. Except for a few close friends who were witness to the marriage, Rizwanur and Priyanka kept their wedlock a secret.
Though she got married, Priyanka stayed in her palatial house with her parents and Rizwanur at his small apartment in a largely working-class Muslim neighbourhood.
A few days later, Rizwanur told his brother of the marriage. The Rizwanur family met and decided to bring Priyanka to their house. On August 31, Rizwanur brought Priyanka home and the family sought police protection from the Todis as they were `influential.' Priyanka too signed the letter seeking protection.
She later went on to say that her mind was 'blank' while signing the document. "I was just signing whatever letters Rizwan was telling me to sign. I once told him we shouldn't mention my father, but he said Pappu (Syed Mohiuddin, a family friend) and Rukbanur (elder brother) had insisted that we frame the letters like that and they knew best."
Rizwanur's family then informed the Todis about the marriage and hell broke loose at the Todis'.
Ashok Todi allegedly told Rizwanur to send Priyanka back home and get out of her life. The hosiery king pulled a few strings as he had top-level contacts in the Kolkata Police. The couple were reportedly summoned several times to the State Police Headquarters at Lalbazar, Kolkata.
In many of these meetings, according to subsequent investigations, Rizwanur was coaxed and threatened. On September 8, the police summoned the graphic designer and told him that he would soon be arrested on charges of abduction if he failed to return Priyanka to the Todis.
Rizwanur tried to buy peace by saying he was ready to convert to Hinduism if that was a pain point for the Todis.
On Sept 8, Rizwanur was summoned again to the police headquarters where he found Priyanka's uncles there. After intense negotiations, where the police officials were seen on the side of the Todis, Rizwanur was forced send Priyanka back home. An agreement was signed by Priyanka's uncles that she would be sent to the Rizwanur's a week later - on Sept 15.
That was the last that Rizwanur saw Priyanka. But on Sept 11, Priyanka spoke to Rizwanur on phone. When the day of her return approached, Rizwanur tried calling Priyanka several times, but every time the phone call was answered by either Ashok Todi or his wife who refused to put the call through to Priyanka.
On September 21, Rahman was found dead lying beside a railway line in Dumdum area, his hands folded over his chest and a deep wound on the back of his head.
After his death, there was turmoil in the locality where he was staying. Rizwanur's mother, brother and elders in the locality accused the Todis of murder and also pointed an accusing finger at the police.
Following these allegations, a delegation of the State Women's Commission met Priyanka to ascertain the facts. She told the Commission that "there was no police pressure on me" and that "no police officer ill-treated me".
The police then blundered. Even before the post-mortem results were released, the then Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee told the media that Rizwanur's death was a "simple case of suicide". How did he come to that conclusion remains a mystery.
Mukherjee then made a bigger blunder when he told the media that cases of eloping, even by adults, were unacceptable morally. So the police had always intervened in such cases in the past, and would continue to do so in the future. But when he was told that the Supreme Court held exactly an opposite view and wanted the police to provide protection to legal inter-religious marriage, a furious Commissioner stormed out of the press conference.
The media then took up the sensitive case and found that Mukherjee had become the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal with the support of West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and Ashok Todi. It was also established that Mukherjee had met the brother of Ashok Todi a few days after Rizwanur got married, and assured him of all help to separate the couple.
Adding a new twist to the case, the train driver, who first spotted Rizwanur's body beside the tracks, said that he was not hit by the train he was driving.
A probe and a few transfers
Following an uproar, the State government ordered a probe. But on Oct 16, 2007, the High Court ruled that the investigation by the State Government was illegal, and ordered a CBI enquiry.
Another turmoil later, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya said on Oct 17 that all five suspected police officers, including Prasun Mukherjee, and deputy commissioners Gyanwant Singh and Ajay Kumar, who were allegedly involved threatening Rizwanur would be transferred from their current posts with immediate effect.
The case took another twist with allegations surfacing that the Todis and Rizwanur's family had struck a huge financial deal to get the couple separated. However, this was denied, but the family members admitted that they were offered a blank cheque, which they turned down.
A month after Rizwanur's death, there was a leak in the media which published the messages allegedly sent by Rizwanur which clearly indicated that he was about to commit suicide.
One message sent to Ashok Todi on Sept 21 read thus: "Papa, there is 10 mins before I kill myself, let me talk to her for the last time."
Five minutes later it was to Vimala Todi, mother of Priyanka: "Mom, I will kill myself in five minutes, please let me talk to her".
But what raised doubts was that both the messages were in Hindi. According to Rukhbanur, his brother was never sent messages in Hindi as he was not conversant with the language. He always texted in English.
Priyanka's 'letter' to Rizwanur's mother
On Nov 6, Kishwar Jehan, mother of Rizwanur, got an official letter from Priyanka which stated: "Priyanka Todi will not return to the house of Rizwanur Rehman. She will stay with her father Ashok Todi at his residence. She is equally shocked after the incident as is Rizwanur's family. Please return her belongings... including saris, greeting cards, personal diaries, photographs, birth certificates, school certificates and others."
Kishwar Jehan replied: "You should have come to meet a mother who lost her son because of the conspiracy hatched by influential police officers and your father. It is a matter of deep regret that you have sent the letter through your advocate. I am hoping that you will come yourself and take these things. It will be very unfortunate if I have to hand them over to an advocate's peon or clerk instead of my daughter-in-law with whom I have no judicial dispute."
On February 11, 2009, Arindam Manna, the Government Railway Police officer who started the probe into the death of Rizwanur, was found murdered near a railway track. His body was found with injuries on the left eye, right leg and a deep cut on the throat. He was one of the witnesses in the case.
The family members of Manna claimed that he was murdered. The police recovered his cell phones, but the sim cards were missing.
Subsequently, the Government Railway Police was first entrusted with the investigations, following which the state government ordered a CID probe.
After this, the state instituted a judicial probe by a retired high court judge, which was withdrawn after the CBI probe was ordered by the Calcutta High Court on October 16, 2007.
CBI had in its report concluded that Rizwanur's death was a case of suicide and recommended initiation of abetment to suicide case under Section 306 of the IPC.
The battle in the courts
A single bench on the High Court accepted the CBI findings and ordered initiation of case against the Todis. But on appeal, a division bench rejected the CBI report and ordered a fresh probe into murder charges.
The Todis and the CBI went in appeal to the Supreme Court which, on March 1, 2011, agreed with the findings of the single bench of the Calcutta High Court, upholding the suicide theory.
With the latest verdict, the following persons will be tried for abetment to suicide: Priyanka's father Ashok Todi, her uncle Pradip Todi, maternal uncle Anil Saraogi, three police officers -- former deputy commissioner Ajoy Kumar, ACP Sukanti Chakraborty, sub-inspector Krishnendu Das, and Mohiuddin alias Pappu, who acted as a link between cops and the Todis.
The CBI has already chargesheeted them for non-bailable criminal proceedings. The CBI also recommended departmental proceedings against former Kolkata Police commissioner Prasun Mukherjee and administrative proceedings against former DC Gyanwant Singh.
Source: India Syndicate with inputs from agencies
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