Delivering the final verdict after hearing an appeal form the Rehman family, a Division Bench of Justices Bhaskar Bhattacharjee and Prasenjit Mondal today set aside the CBI investigation earlier ordered by a single bench and directed the agency to initiate a murder case on the basis of a complaint filed by the deceased’s brother Rukbanur Rehman on September 21, 2007. The court directed the CBI to treat the complaint as an FIR.

Earlier, the CBI investigation had concluded in its chargesheet filed on September 23, 2008 that Rizwanur had committed suicide and recommended initiation of an abetment to suicide case under Section 306 of the IPC.

Rizwanur was found dead near railway tracks in Dumdum area on September 21, 2007, just over a month after his marriage to Priyanka Todi, daughter of industrialist Ashok Todi, on August 18, 2007.

Ashok Todi, owner of the Rs 200-crore Lux Cozi hosiery brand, his brother Pradip and brother in-law Anil Sarogi are accused in the case along with senior police officers then serving in the Kolkata police — Ajoy Kumar, former DC (DD), former assistant commissioner Sukanti Chakraborty and sub-inspector Krishnendu Das. Pappu, a friend of Rehman family, was also named as an accused.

The Rehman family had moved the High Court demanding a CBI probe into Rizwanur’s death in September 2007. In an interim order on October 16, 2007, Justice Saumitra Pal had ordered a CBI probe.

CBI exceeded HC’s brief
Today, the Division Bench observed that Justice Pal had only directed the CBI to investigate the cause of the death and file a report to it and had not authorised the agency to investigate the alleged crime.

It was alleged that Rizwanur had been threatened and intimidated by senior officers of Kolkata police at the behest of Priyanka’s father and relatives into allowing her to go back to her paternal home at posh Salt Lake area, with an assurance that she would be sent back to the computer graphics teacher’s home after a week.

Top cops shunted out
Rizwanur’s mother Kishwar Jahan had alleged the involvement of the then police commissioner Prasun Mukherjee, deputy commissioner (headquarters) Gyanwant Singh and deputy commissioner (Detective Department) Ajoy Kumar in intimidating her son. All the three officers had been transferred out of the Kolkata police following the CBI report recommending departmental action. The Division Bench today noted the “allegations of the role of police in breaking the matrimonial tie of an adult couple”.

It also noted that the Todi family had close connections with senior police officers due to their sponsoring of police programmes or through Snehaish Ganguly, a former cricketer and elder brother of former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly.

Govt, CID get a rap too
The court also slammed the role of the West Bengal government, observing it was indecisive and vacillating in deciding on the course of action following huge uproar over the death. The GRP was first entrusted with the investigations following which the state government ordered a CID investigation. Later, 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.