Kolkata: The parents of R G Kar rape and murder victim told Calcutta High Court on Thursday that they were threatened with gun and pressured to withdraw their case. The court was informed that the revolver in question has been seized.The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) submitted a report before the division bench of Justice Shampa Sarkar and Justice Tirthankar Ghosh. The division bench enquired whether Section 164 statements — recorded before Judicial Magistrate — were video-graphed. The CBI informed that these statements of the victim’s parents are yet to be taken.The inspector in charge and the investigating officer of Khardah Police Station was directed to appear before the court on Oct 1.A separate FIR was registered at the Khardah PS under the Barrackpore police commissionerate regarding the alleged hurried cremation and destruction of evidence in the case.The complaint was filed by the RG Kar victim’s father who alleged that the victim’s body was cremated in undue haste at a crematorium in Panihati without proper family consent to eliminate the possibility of a second post-mortem and conceal evidence.Former Panihati MLA Nirmal Ghosh, former councillor Somnath Dey and neighbour Sanjib Mukhopadhyay were named in the FIR. It was claimed that the probe ran parallel to the court monitored CBI probe.The probe, which was transferred to CBI from Tala police, is now a court-monitored probe by the agency’s special team. The division bench had directed the team to look into aspects of the crime afresh. During an earlier hearing on Aug 28, the division bench had told the CBI that they “wished to reach a conclusion at the end of this investigation”.The bench directed Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Dhirej Trivedi to submit a report in a closed envelope indicating “the path through which they have been able to locate the involvement of certain persons”.The special bench, which was formed by the former Chief Justice Sujoy Paul, after multiple benches had recused from hearing the case, also observed that “some” interrogations were done but “those according to us (the judges) are not sufficient”.In their previous order on May 21, the bench had directed SIT, relieving the earlier IO Seema Pahuja, to focus on all the surrounding circumstances of the fateful night, from the stage when the victim had dinner with her doctor friends till the time of cremation. The bench had also directed the SIT to revisit the grievance of the parents and interrogate them if required.On June 25, the special bench, in their two-page order, stated that they were “not satisfied” with the report filed by SIT, which is being headed by the joint director of CBI’s Eastern zone.Critical of the report submitted, the HC questioned the information and documents collected by CBI in its probe for the past many days. It was observed that “larger conspiracy” has been repeatedly mentioned but the probe report does not say anything beyond that.
