Cops ignored elderly woman's SOS

Kolkata: Sunanda Ganguly had filed three police complaints fearing for her life, and another four accusing a policeman, a promoter and her husband of harassing her. Yet, Bhowanipore police sat on these complaints, giving the 60-year-old woman only verbal assurance. Ganguly was murdered brutally early this week.
In 2014, just days after some bouncers allegedly "kidnapped" her and forced her into a mental asylum in Kalighat, Bhowanipore police had refused to register a FIR.It took the intervention of the deputy commissioner to file a case of abduction. On Monday night, when Bhowanipore police finally slapped murder charges in Sunanda's death case (after dilly dallying all day), local residents couldn't help but wonder if timely help from police could have averted this tragic turn of events.
On February 18, 2014, Sunanda had filed a police complaint, accusing a sub-inspector of threatening her. She wrote specifically how this cop - who is now with Special Branch - had "forced her" to meet the promoter she had accused of kidnap.
She met the promoter thrice under duress after which some police officers took the name of a Trinamool leader to push the case under the carpet.
This is not the only time Bhowanipore police were accused of inaction. Residents point out at least three other recent incidents where police failed to take timely action, although it's CM Mamata Banerjee's constituency.
In May, a student of Asutosh College complained that she was beaten up on campus by TMCP members because she supported SFI. She alleges police refused to accept an FIR, saying they will do so only after examining CCTV footage. A month earlier, a clash broke out between two Trinamool factions near SSKM Hospital during elections but no FIR was lodged. Police "completed their investigation" with a simple general diary.
In October last year, Bhowanipore police station became the site of a protest following the alleged sexual harassment of a transgender rights activist and her friends. The OC had allegedly refused to file an FIR on the night of the incident, saying that it wasn't "in their jurisdiction". The matter got resolved after intervention from senior officers.
Police, however, have an explanation for each one of them. "You should talk to Bakulbagan residents to know how Sunanda Ganguly came to us claiming harassment even when local club members wanted to illuminate her house before Durga Puja last year. It was like the shepherd crying wolf at every instance, only to get no help when one actually fell in the trap," reasoned an officer.
He claimed that there was no written complaint from anyone in the SSKM incident. "And regarding the Asutosh College incident, the student turned up at the police station five days after the alleged incident. She also did bring any medical certificate. Isn't it fair that we first watch the CCTV footage?" asked the officer.
In Sunanda's case, police have questioned the promoter named in the FIR and taken down statements from neighbours and students whom she taught at her residence. "We found out that her son recently asked her to vacate the house. Her husband and mother-in-law had already told her so. But she refused and stopped taking money from her son. This we learnt from her friend Anjali Basu. The other tenant of the house, Raja Sanyal, told us that five months ago a promoter had offered him and Ganguly Rs 40 lakh each to vacate the house. Sanyal agreed but the promoter told him he cannot get his share unless Sunanda Ganguly also moves out with him. Locals claim the promoter had warned to throw her out if she did not follow his orders. All these things are now part of the probe," said an investigator.