On Tuesday (19th December), an advocate at the Calcutta High Court named Protap Chandra Dey wrote to the Kolkata Bar Association about the harassment meted out to him by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of West Bengal.
In his 4-page letter, Dey pointed out how he was tortured by the investigation agency simply because his wife Amrita Sinha is a Judge of the Calcutta High Court and hearing corruption cases related to Mamata Banerjee government and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee.
The advocate informed that he was summoned by the Economic Offences Wing of the CID on 1st December 2023. “Reaching there I was treated like a criminal, accused in some heinous crime. I was interrogated by more than one officers and questions were asked only about my wife and about her personal details,” he narrated.
Despite pointing out that it was a case of ‘mistaken identity’, the CID officers continued to harass Protap Chandra Dey. He wrote, “The officers told me that they were not interested with the case details, but wanted answers in respect of my wife. The video was switched on and off as per their desire and convenience. The torture and harassment went on for three and half hours.”
The Calcutta High Court advocate was summoned by the CID again on 16th December this year. He narrated, “They behaved like local goons. They shouted at the top of their voice; not a single decent language was used. All slang and filthy expletives. The camera was not switched on continuously.”
“They put tremendous pressure to depose against my wife. As I refused to give any statement against her, the torture increased manifold…All irrelevant questions were asked with the sole intention to create an atmosphere of fear and psychosis to break me under pressure,” he added.
Forced to depose against my wife: Protap Chandra Dey
The Calcutta High Court advocate accused the CID officers of trying to bribe him into giving statements against his wife Amrita Sinha, who is a Judge at the Calcutta High Court.
“I was offered huge sum of money, expensive cars, luxurious residential apartments and many others which I am ashamed to mention. I was threatened with dire consequences if I failed to depose as per their advice. My wife and child has also been threatened. They disclosed that they were acting as per the advice of their superior authority. If I failed to tow their line, they would ruin my entire family by butchering us into pieces,” he informed.
Protap Chandra Dey stated, “They disclosed their intension to hold me back for the entire night and if instruction is received from the superior officer, they can arrest me in false cases and put me behind bars. The insult and torture went up to such extent that I broke down at one point of time. The officers were hell bent to harm and injure me physically. They pounced upon me on a number of times to assault me only to put me under tremendous pressure and force to extract false statement from me to frame my wife with charge of corruption.”
Advocate reveals how CID officials ignored health concerns
“I had not taken food for such long hours and despite informing that I am required to take medicines, they least bothered to leave me, I was feeling extremely unwell and uncomfortable in such vicious atmosphere. Had it been a bit longer I would have collapsed after sometime,” he narrated.
“The inhuman torture meted out to an advocate who is not connected to the case is absolutely illegal and strict action should be taken against the same. An advocate has every right to defend a litigant if the litigant executes vakalatnama in his/her favour. But the CID does not have any right to harass and heckle me in connection with any case with which I am not connected. The whole intention was to malign and damage the reputation of me and my family,” he concluded.