The officer in charge of Chandrakona police station in West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur district has been removed from the post after a 20-year-old man was found hanging inside the station lock-up, with a departmental inquiry under way into the custodial death.
Police Superintendent Papiya Sultana sent the order concerning Officer-in-Charge Purushottam Pandey on Thursday night. Pratyay Das, who was previously the officer-in-charge of the Special Operations Group cell, has been given responsibility for Chandrakona police station.
The death occurred on Sunday, when Rahul Ruidas was found hanging in a toilet inside the lock-up. Sultana visited the police station that night and said that a departmental investigation had begun. She also said action would be taken if allegations of dereliction of duty were established.
The police superintendent has described Pandey’s removal as a routine transfer. The timing, however, follows the custodial death and the launch of the departmental inquiry. The available report does not state whether the inquiry has reached any conclusion or identify the specific duty-related allegations being examined.
Rahul’s father, Bifal Ruidas, told the Ghatal subdivision court that his son had been killed inside the lock-up. That allegation has not been established, and the report does not indicate that the court has made a finding on it. The family’s allegation is now part of a wider process involving multiple forms of scrutiny.
A post-mortem examination was conducted at Medinipur Medical College and Hospital on Tuesday. The examination was videographed, according to the report. A magistrate-level inquiry is also under way, while the Human Rights Commission is reported to be taking steps in connection with the death.
The case began after Chandrakona police detained people on the night of 10 September on allegations that they had assembled with the intention of committing a robbery. The detainees were produced before a court the following day, after which police custody was granted for four days. The report says that one person subsequently died while in the lock-up. It separately describes three people being arrested and later refers to four people in the lock-up.
The sequence places responsibility for custodial safety at the centre of the investigations. A police lock-up is an environment in which the station administration is responsible for monitoring detainees and responding to medical, security and welfare risks. The inquiries will determine what happened inside the station, how the death occurred and whether any official failed to perform a required duty.
The next steps are the departmental investigation, the magistrate-level inquiry and the examination of the post-mortem and videography records. The report does not provide a timeline for completion or indicate when findings will be made public.
