Mamata calls Sudipta’s death petty,jumps gun to announce it as mishap

On a day when Kolkata Police and Governor M K Narayanan urged media not to draw any conclusion about how the Sudipta died while being taken to jail in a bus on Tuesday,Mamata herself jumped the gun by saying that the post mortem report will reveal that the youth’s death was caused by an accident.

“The post-mortem will reveal that it’s an accident. It was not police assault.. There was no police atrocity. You can see the post-mortem report,” she added.

However,SFI members who were witness to the incident and the CPM leaders have alleged that the political science student of Rabindra Bharati University died of police brutality. The preliminary autopsy report also indicated that there were many ante mortem injuries on the youth’s body — five major ones of which two were closed to heart and brain.

Mamata today even questioned the strike and road blockades put by the protesting students across the state,saying: “Why? for what purpose (are they protesting)?”

A day ago,during her hurried visit to SSKM Hospital where Sudipta’s body was lying in a morgue,she had supported the police theory that the youth died after he got hit by a street lamp post as he fell down from the moving bus. She had then termed his death as unfortunate saying: “Any death is unfortunate. This is also unfortunate.”

Earlier in the day,Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Jawed Shamim told media not to draw any conclusive evidence till the probe into the case is completed. “Our appeal to the media is please don’t jump to a conclusion because the way the incident is being projected is not right. We have launched a thorough investigation and the forensic team has visited the spot,” Shamim said.

Asked whether the Chief Minister’s statement that Sudipta died after being hit by a lamp post would affect the investigation,Shamim said,“Why should it? I on the basis of the primary report had said the same thing.” Stating that with the launch of the investigation all aspects would be looked into,Shamim said the preliminary autopsy report had suggested that the death was due to head injury after being hit by a blunt object.

Meanwhile,Governor Narayanan also urged the media not to speculate. “The enquiry is on,so I don’t want to make any comment. You also don’t make any speculation. No body should come to any conclusion before the investigation is complete,” Narayanan said on the sidelines of a programme at the Academy of Fine Arts.

With PTI inputs from Bangalore