Kolkata: The two-member team of the National Commission for Protection of Child Nights (NCPCR), which arrived in Kolkata on Friday for a field inspection of the alleged “human sacrifice” of a seven-year-old girl by her neighbour in the Tiljala area last Sunday, has alleged assault by police within the police station during their work.
NCPCR Chairman Priyank Kanoongo told media persons that when he went to Tiljala Police Station for the purpose of field inspection, he was harassed and assaulted by the officer-in-charge Biswak Mukherjee. “Our conversations were constantly being recorded by a hidden camera which I spotted. After that I was also assaulted and harassed within the police station,” he alleged.
Kanoongo had also issued a Twitter message on this count detailing his experiences within Tiljala police station which he narrated to media. Till the time the report was filed there was no reaction either from Mukherjee or from any senior official of Kolkata Police on this count.
He also alleged that earlier in the day when he and the NCPCR secretary Rupali Bandopadhyay reached the residence of the victim’s family, the members of the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) stopped them from having a free interaction with the family members. However, the allegations on this count have been dismissed by the WBCPCR Chairperson Sudeshna Roy, who also alleged that the visiting NCPCR team members were operating with a definite purpose to instigate the victim’s family members.
On Sunday evening, the body of the seven-year-old was recovered from the residence of her neighbour. Investigation revealed that the accused, Aloke Kumar killed the girl after being advised by a ‘tantrik’ that the sacrifice of a minor girl would enable him to get a child of his own.
The following day, parts of south Kolkata turned into a virtual battlefield following clashes between police forces and the local people agitating against the barbaric act.
A police vehicle and a couple of motorcycles were torched and several police vehicles vandalised.
–IANS