Form new SSKM team to report on Khejuri deaths: HC
Times of India | 16 September 2025The division bench of justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi passed the order while taking note of the glaring differences in the findings of the two autopsies — one conducted at Tamluk District Hospital and the other at SSKM.
The first autopsy blamed electrocution for the death of Sujit Das, 22, and Sudhir Chandra Paik, 75. But the second, the bench noted, mentioned 24 injuries on the body of one victim and more than one on the body of the other.
The bench had on Sept 3 taken exception to the "mismatch" between the two reports. "The second post-mortem was done by a medical board at SSKM Hospital. It clearly mentions injuries on the bodies, while the autopsy done in Midnapore doesn't make a mention of them," the bench had observed.
The second autopsy report also said the injuries were ante-mortem and homicidal in nature.
The bench on Monday sought a comprehensive report on the cause of death from a new medical board at SSKM by September 15.
Das and Paik died on their way home from a village fair on July 12. Das's family had contended before the high court that he died after being grievously assaulted, prompting a single-judge bench to order the second post-mortem.
After the mismatch in the autopsy reports came to light, the single-judge bench took the case from Khejuri police station and handed it to the CID. It had earlier turned down a plea by Das's family for a CBI inquiry saying investigations by the central agency were a "gallery show".
