12 Kolkata: Calcutta High Court on Tuesday reprimanded cops for a "shabby" investigation into the murder of a 77-year-old woman in 2009 under Nandakumar police station. The HC, however, refused to order a probe by an independent agency or CBI, considering 16 years had passed and a new investigating officer would not be able to uncover further facts in the case.
The son of the deceased, Sindhubala Das, approached the bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh seeking a transfer of the probe. According to the writ petition, around 5.45am on Aug 7, 2009, the man found his mother dead; around 50g of gold ornaments worn by her were missing.
The family assisted in the probe, resulting in the arrest of one person. However, police could not elicit any information from the accused. Justice Ghosh pointed out angles, such as questioning of goldsmiths in the area who buy stolen items, which were not looked into.
"Someone lost their mother, this is not the way to do it. Casualness has killed this case," Justice Ghosh said. "I am of the view that the complainant did not get a free and fair investigation."
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