CHHABI KHANRA Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an application under Art. 226 for a writ in the nature of Habeas Corpus for the production of the body of one Prasenjit Khanra, the son of the petitioners who is untraced since 14-12-1995 and also for a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the investigating authorities to proceed in accordance with law and complete the investigation in the Belgharia P.S. case No. 20 dated 24-1-1996 under S. 364, I.P.C. regarding missing and kidnapping of said Prasenjit Khanra. The respondents in this writ petition include the officer-in-charge, Missing Persons Squad, Lal Bazar, the Superintendent of Police, Criminal Investigations Department, Bhabani Bhavan, West Bengal, the Officer-in-charge, Belgharia Police Station, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Criminal Investigation Department, West Bengal, several other police officials and also three private persons whose involvement in the matter is suspected by the petitioners.

(2.) Prasenjit Khanra has been missing since 14th December, 1995. After obtaining degree of Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (BME) from Jadavpur University in 1995, he joined Hindusthan Gas and Industries in Gujarat on being selected in campus interview, but he returned in September, 1995 and thereafter sent an application intimating his unwillingness to continue in the said industry. The petitioners reside in village Chandrakona Road, P. S. Garbeta in the district of Midnapore. It is the petitioners' case that after returning from Gujarat Prasenjit used to stay at room No. 13 in 'D' Block of Jadavpur Main Hostel as guest of one Rajib Banerjee and Amalesh Maji who were regular students of Jadavpur University, Engineering Branch and he was preparing for competitive examinations. He used to go to meet his parents at Chandrakona Road usually once in a month during his study as a student of Jadvapur and after coming back from Gujarat while he used to stay as guest of Rajib and Amalesh, he used to come to Chandrakona Road at an interval of 15 days and also on the occasions of principal festivals. Kakali is the elder sister of Prasenjit. She also passed Bachelor of Engineering from Bengal Engineering College, Shibpur in 1994. At the material time she used to stay as paying guest in the house of one Monoj Ghosh at 1/C, Lake Temple Road, Calcutta-29. On 2nd December, 1995 Prasenjit came to his parents at Chandrakona Road and returned to Jadavpur Main Hostel on 4th December, 1995. In the writ petition it is stated by the petitioners that on 13th December, 1995 Prasenjit went to the house of Monoj Ghosh to meet his elder sister Kakali and he again went there on the 14th December, 1995 and intimated Kakali that he had arranged another room for Kakali for her staying as paying guest and both of them would go to visit the said room in the evening and it was also intimated to her by Prasenjit that he had been invited for lunch by his friend Rajib Chowdhury (the respondent No. 9 herein) at noon on 14th December, 1995 and he would go to the house of Rajib Chowdhury at 60/1, Feeder Road (Phoolbagan), Belgharia, Cal. 56. However Prasenjit did not come back to Kakali in the evening of the 14th December, 1995. As Prasenjit did not enquire about Kakali till 19th December, 1995 she went to the Jadavpur Main Hostel to meet Prasenjit on 20-12-1995 and came to learn from Jadavpur Main Hostel through her boy friend Chandan Gupta who accompanied her there that the room-mates of Prasenjit intimated him that Prasenjit left the hostel for the house of Rajib Chowdhury on 14-12-1995 and did not return to the hostel since then. In paragraph 14 of the writ petition it is stated that on query made by Chandan, one Rajib Banerjee, the room-mate of Prasenjit informed him that there were other friends of Prasenjit from whom something could be known and the said friends were named as Sanjoy Das alias Bhanjo and Rana Saha, respondent Nos. 11 and 10 respectively. According to the writ petition Rajib Banerjee, the room-mate of Prasenjit accompanied Chandan to the other block of the hostel where Sanjoy Das alias Bhanjo used to stay and there Sanjoy told Rajib to note down the address of Rana Saha on a paper which was collected by the Rajib Banerjee from the floor of the room where Sanjoy used to stay.The address of Rana Saha as told by Sanjoy was written on that paper which was collected from the floor of the room and it was found that the said paper was a letter addressed to Bhanjo (alias Sanjoy Das) written by Rana and in that letter it was stated that Khanra was missing since last Thursday and he had not returned to the hostel, and as such Bhanjo was asked to contact Rajib and it was further stated that Rana would take information over telephone from the hostel. The said letter is Annexure-D to the writ petition. The last sentence of that letter is 'happy X-mas (war is over).' On 21-12-1995 Kakali obtained, over phone from Rajib Chowdhury, the description of the wearing apparel of Prasenjit which he was wearing when he went to the house of Rajib Chowdhury on 14-12-1995 and on that date, namely, 21-12-1995 Kakali and Chandan went to the Jadavpur Police Station, but Jadavpur police refused to accept any complaint and also refused to record any general dairy. However subsequently at the intervention of one Chittaranjan Pan, an officer of the Home (Personnel) Department at Writers' Buildings, Calcutta a G.D. Entry being G.D. Entry No. GDE-1323 dated 21-12-1995 was registered at the Jadavpur police station and on that very date a written complaint was also lodged with the Officer-in-charge, Missing Persons Squad, Lalbazar. It is stated by Kakali Khanra in her complaint dated 21-12-1995 addressed to the Officer-in-charge, Missing Persons Squad, Lalbazar, Calcutta that her brother Prasenjit was missing since the preceding Thursday, the 14th December, 1995 afternoon and on that date he had gone to his friend Rajib Chowdhury's house at Belgharia and after taking lunch there he left the place and took a bus (No. 234) to come to his sister's place at Lake Temple Road at about 3.15 p.m. and since then there was no trace of him. On 23-12-1995 the petitioner No. 2, Ranjit Khanra, the father of Prasenjit also lodged a complaint with the Officer-in-charge, Missing Persons Squad, Lalbazar stating that on 14-12-1995 Prasenjit went to Rajib Chowdhury's house at Belgharia on an invitation for lunch and thereafter he did not come back to the hostel. In that complaint mention had also been made of the letter purportingly written by Rana Saha to Sanjoy Das containing the expression 'war is over' which according to the petitioners is a suspicious expression. In the written complaint the petitioner No. 2 has expressed his impression that Prasenjit was missing from Belgharia and Rajib Chowdhury, Rana Saha and Sanjoy Das alias Bhanjo might have kidnapped him for some illegal purpose. On 25-12-1995 the petitioner No. 2 also lodged a complaint with the Officer-in-charge, Belgharia Police Station about the missing of his son Prasenjit and about the suspected involvement of Rajib, Rana and Sanjoy. As Prasenjit was not traced out the petitioner No. 2, the father of Prasenjit lodged an FIR on 24-1-1996 at the Belgharia Police Station suspecting the involvement of Rajib Chowdhury and Rajib's friends Rana Saha and Sanjoy Das alias Bhanjo in the matter of kidnapping Prasenjit for some illegal purpose. On the basis of the said FIR a case was started by the police being Belgharia P.S. Case No. 20 dated 24-1-1996 under S. 364, I.P.C. and the said investigation is still pending and the petitioners' grievance is that the investigation is not been properly conducted by the police and that is why the present writ petition has been filed. It is also averred in the writ petition at pages 23, 24 and 25 that after the missing of Prasenjit an advertisement was made in the Statesman on 10-1-1996 in the missing persons column and thereafter one Dr. A. Ahmed, a registered practitioner of Manipur wrote a letter to the petitioner No. 2 (Annexure-G) that he had come to learn that Prasenjit was alive and in distress and that it would be better to go to Fakir Baba with the help of one Swapan Dey at Socio-Economic Development Centre, Kamal Nath Nagar, Bettiah 855438, West Champaran. In response to the said letter dated 24-2-1996 of Dr. A. Ahmed the petitioner No. 2 intimated Dr. Ahmed by a letter that he would be obliged if the telephone No. of Fakir Baba was sent to him for making contact with Fakir Baba regarding the whereabouts of his son Prasenjit. A similar letter was also sent to Swapan Dey. It appears that no reply was received from Dr. Ahmed or from Swapan Dey. Police also wrote a letter to Dr. Ahmed which also has not been responded.

(3.) Respondent No. 9 Rajib Chowdhury has entered appearance in this proceeding through his learned Advocate, but he has not affirmed any affidavit-in-opposition and it is submitted by the learned Advocate appearing for the respondent No. 9 that he is not going to affirm any affidavit in this writ proceeding as that might prejudice his interest and stand in the pending criminal investigationwherein his involvement in the matter has been suspected by the petitioners. Since the present writ proceeding itself is directly related to the pending criminal investigation and is biased on the grievance that the criminal investigation is not being properly conducted by the police, evidently a suspect should not be compelled to affirm affidavit in this writ proceeding which is intended to obtain an impact on the pending criminal investigation. Indeed the police have recorded the statements of the suspects under S. 161, Cr. P.C. However an affidavit has been affirmed on behalf of the respondents Nos. 1 to 8 who are the police authorities. In that affidavit-in-opposition the allegation that the investigation is not being properly conducted has been denied and the steps taken in the investigation have been also adumbrated. The case diary also has been produced. It is however not considered desirable to discuss in detail in this order the materials in the C.D. as the investigation is still pending.