The family of a 60-year-old murder convict whose body police said had been handed to a wrong family at SSKM Hospital has lodged a complaint accusing the Presidency jail and SSKM authorities of murder and causing disappearance of evidence.
The police said the complaint was lodged on Saturday night but a case was yet to be started till late on Sunday evening.
Bablu Polley, the murder convict who was lodged at Presidency jail, had been declared dead at SSKM Hospital on October 20 (Sashthi).
When the family went to identify the dead man in the hospital’s morgue on October 23, none of the bodies they were shown was Polley’s.
When the family again went to the hospital on October 25, SSKM officials allegedly told them verbally that the body had been mistakenly handed to the family of another dead patient. Polley’s family was also allegedly told that the body had been cremated.
Late on October 26, joint commissioner, crime, Kolkata police, Shankha Shubhra Chakrabarty, had said Polley’s body had been mistakenly handed to another family.
The complaint lodged on Saturday night by Polley’s wife Namita accused the Presidency Correctional Home and SSKM authorities of murdering Polley and removing the body to make all evidence disappear.
“Although the police said my father’s body had been accidentally handed over to another family, we are not convinced by the explanation. There are so many rules before a body is handed to a family. How come they handed over his body to someone bypassing all the rules?” Polley’s son Chandan told The Telegraph on Sunday.
The superintendent of Presidency jail, Debasish Chakraborty, said Polley was a “humble person” and had “severe neuro problems”.
“He was not keeping well over the past four to five years and would often need hospitalisation. He had been admitted to SSKM Hospital several times in the past few years. The last time he was taken to SSKM Hospital, the doctors declared him dead,” Chakraborty said.
Asked about the family’s allegations of murder and disappearance of evidence, he said: “I have nothing to say on that. I have shared all the details which I know about this case.”
SSKM director Manimoy Bandyopadhyay refused to comment on the matter.
Lawyer Navjyoti Roy, who is representing Polley’s family, said that according
to a formal communication from Presidency jail to the family, Polley was admitted
to SSKM Hospital on September 15.
“After that, there was no communication. The family does not know when he was discharged from the hospital or when he was again taken to SSKM for treatment. On October 22, the family was informed that he was no more. We strongly suspect foul play inside the jail and the hospital,” Roy said.
A Kolkata police officer said a case was yet to be started in this regard.
