Rizwanur Rahman (1977 – 21 September 2007) was a 30-year-old computer graphics trainer who was driven into committing suicide according to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
[2] It is believed that on 18 August 2007, the two secretly married according to the Special Marriage Act to which a few close friends and colleagues of Rizwanur were witnesses.
They told him that he was liable to be arrested on various charges, including abduction and illegal confinement, if his wife remained confined inside his tiny, rundown house; also that there was a minor charge against him of stealing a cell phone and other items from the Todi mansion,[7] He was told that the girl, Priyanka, had never spoken to her parents properly after disappearing from the house one fine day, and that the parents were totally aghast and bewildered.
Rizwan was always present when Priyanka spoke to her parents, and because of his presence, the conversations were necessarily stilted and stifled, with no mutual understanding in sight.
[9] In a letter allegedly written by Rahman to an NGO before his death, he stated that he was ready to convert to Hinduism in exchange for a peaceful married life.
[11] His body was found lying beside a railway line,[12] with hands folded over his chest and a deep wound on the back of his head.
Even before the post-mortem results were released, the then Police Commissioner, Prasun Mukherjee, brushed aside the death of Rahman as a "simple case of suicide".
During primary investigations by the media, it was revealed that Mukherjee met the brother of Ashok Todi a few days after Rizwanur got married, and assured him of help from the police force to separate the couple.
[18] On 17 October 2007, under intense pressure from the civil society, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya stated that all five suspected police officers, including the commissioner, Prasun Mukherjee, and deputy commissioners Gyanwant Singh and Ajay Kumar, who were fully aware that Rizwanur did not commit any crime according to law, but still actively participated in the threatening and torturing due to some understanding with Ashok Todi, will be transferred from their current posts with immediate effect.
During the investigations, it was alleged that several people including local goons and also some of Rahman's family members received money from Ashok Todi to sabotage the marriage.
Along with publishing the SMS details, some parts of the media also vigorously started to highlight the arguments of a suicide, and tried to turn the public opinion away from the role of the police force.
[24] There are also questions about the authenticity of these SMSes, which are being published as follows:[25] To Mr. Ashok Todi: "Papa, there is 10 mins before I kill myself, let me talk to her for the last time", reads one message.
There are other rumours spread by some sources which said that Rizwanur sent one SMS to one of his friends that read "Please protest aloud after I am gone", and called a former "girlfriend" (Pompi Roy) to express his desire to kill himself, which were later proved to be false.
His statements tallied with an anonymous letter previously sent to CBI in which it was claimed that Rahman was kidnapped the day he died.
She wrote back a reply which said: “You should have come to meet a mother who lost her son because of the conspiracy hatched by influential police officers and your father.
It is a matter of deep regret that you have sent the letter through your advocate...” Agreeing to return Priyanka’s personal articles, Kishwar said: “I am hoping that you will come yourself and take these things.
All India Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee visited the Rizvanur's family and held the city police directly responsible for the death.
It organised a public rally in the city where Ms Banerjee and Rizwanur's relatives accused the CPI(M) leadership of "offering money" to them to hush up the case.
[38] Mamata Banerjee has said: Indian singer and ex-MP Kabir Suman also sang a protest song showing his sympathy for the Hindu-Muslim couple named "Rizwanur Brityo" in the year 2008.
[41] Heavily outnumbered and facing unprecedented ferocity from angry Muslim youths brandishing swords, machetes and shotguns, Police was forced to beat a retreat.
[42] Members of the ruling front acknowledge that the police claim of Rizwanur Rahman committing suicide is alienating Muslim voters.
[43] M. J. Akbar writes: Veteran Bengali politician Jyoti Basu has said:[45] According to the CBI probe, the cause of death of Rizwanur was suicide.
The police recovered the cell phones, but the SIM cards are missing," Manna's brother Debaprasad Moitra claimed.