Shedding their denial mode, the top brass of the Kolkata police swung in action on Saturday when the three cops accused of assaulting a youth, Mohammed Rafique, and urinating on him in Park Circus on Thursday night were directed not to join the duty at their workplace, Beniapukur police station, till the inquiry was over.
The accused booked in the case are assistant sub-inspector Dipankar Chakraborty and two constables — Samir and Manoj. “They have only been instructed not to report to their duty at the police station till the investigation is over. The step was taken in the interest of the probe,” said deputy commissioner of police (DCP) of the eastern suburban division Satyajit Bandopadhyay.
He, however, refused to term the measure as “closing” of the errant cops. The practice of “Close” in city and state police circle means the restriction on an accused cop in joining duty at the scheduled workplace and reporting to a senior officer instead.
“The cops were not closed,” Mr Bandopadhyay said. The move came after he summoned the three cops to his office and questioned them during the day, sources added.
Sources indicated that the DCP’s decision was supported by his superior officers, though joint commissioner of police (headquarters) Jawed Shamim claimed that the incident did not reach up to Lalbazar and affirmed that no report or action was sought from the city police headquarters.