Annual Report 2010-2011 c) Police High-Handedness 22. Death of Achhanoor Sheikh and Two Others in Police Clash in District Nadia, West Bengal (Case No.11/25/2003-2004-FC) 4.99 The Commission received a complaint from one Abbas Sheikh, a resident of District Nadia in West Bengal alleging that his son was killed by the police of Pakashipara region in a pre-planned manner on 30 January 2002 although the death was shown as an outcome of a clash with the police. 4.100 Taking cognizance of the matter, the Commission called for a report from the Director General of Police, Government of West Bengal. The report revealed that on 30 January 2002, a Sub-Inspector from Pakashipara Police Station received information regarding an unlawful assembly of dacoits in Bangoria forests. The police team led by Sub-Inspector Sumon Chatterjee reached the spot and noticed a group of people sitting there. On being questioned by the police, the said group opened fire on the police party and hurled bombs, due to which both the knees of the Sub-Inspector were injured. In self defence, the police too fired back and in the process killed three persons from the other group, one of them being the son of the complainant. The police version was that the complainant’s son was involved in two criminal cases of murder and grievous hurt. In addition, the police also recovered illegal arms and ammunition from the place where people had assembled. 4.101 A magisterial enquiry into the incident was later conducted by a Deputy Magistrate. The enquiry justified the police firing as a matter of right to self-defence. The complainant in no way was associated in the enquiry. The bullet wounds were found on the back of all the bodies and two of the bodies were found in blackened state due to burns. The report of the ballistic expert was not forwarded to the Commission. The Commission called for video cassette of the post-mortem examination and also called for the ballistic examination report in the matter. It was informed that no videography was conducted during the post-mortem examination. The ballistic report confirmed that the arms were in working condition when they were fired. However, no swab from the fingers of the deceased was taken. The reason given for this was that as the incident took place in odd hours, i.e. 2 a.m. in the morning, the swabs could not be taken by the police as they did not have the requisite kit. 4.102 After examining all the facts of the case from the received reports, the Commission issued a show-cause notice to the Government of West Bengal asking as to why it should not recommend relief to the next of kin of the three deceased persons, namely, Achanoor Shaikh, Nazu Ghangarmar and Sirajul Sheikh. The Government of West Bengal expressed its displeasure over the show-cause notice issued to it. It further expressed that in the magisterial enquiry conducted by the State none of the public witnesses found any trace of foul play in the matter. It was also pointed out that the wounds on the body of Achanoor Sheikh were not blackened. The Commission disapproved the stand taken by the State Government stating that there were no eyewitness in the matter, the complainant was not associated in the enquiry, swab of the fingers of a dead person were not taken even after many hours of the incident. It also stated that bullet wounds found on the body of the deceased Achanoor Sheikh, even 38 NHRC