Calcutta HC hands over Sunderban custodial death case to CID

Calcutta High Court on Wednesday handed over the custodial death case of Abu Siddique Halder to state CID. Halder was allegedly killed due to police brutality while in custody in West Bengal's Dholahat area of Sundarban. Justice Amrita Sinha also ordered a second post-mortem of Halder's body.

Justice Sinha said that the viscera report will be sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Hyderabad for further investigation. Apart from this, she also directed the police to ensure the complete security of the victim's family and witnesses of the case. The next hearing date of this case has been set for July 22.

Abu Halder was arrested a day after some gold jewelry was reportedly stolen from the house of his uncle Mohsin Halder on June 30. The family claimed that Abu had injury marks all over his body when he was released on bail by the Kakdwip sub-divisional court where he was produced on July 4.

The police officials, however, claimed there were no injury marks on  Abu Halder’s body when Abu was produced in the court. He was first taken to a hospital in Mathurapur where he was discharged after being given first aid. But his health deteriorated again and he was taken to a nursing home where he died.