The District Magistrate of West Bengal’s Alipurduar, Nikhil Nirmal, was sent on leave on Monday after a viral video in which he, along with his wife, were seen beating a person inside a police station.
According to reports, the person had allegedly send lewd and offensive comments to the DM’s wife on a social media platform. In the video, Mr. Nirmal is seen slapping him while his wife is heard asking a policeman for a baton.
“I will not let you do anything against me in my district. I will enter your house and kill you,” the DM was heard saying. The video, which runs a little over five minutes, is from Falakata Police Station of the district; policemen in uniform can be seen in the video. The video was allegedly shot on Sunday evening when a youth was picked up and brought to the police station. Mr. Nirmal’s wife Nandini Krishnan is also seen slapping and kicking the accused, who has been identified as Binod Kumar Sarkar, a resident of Falakata.
After the video went viral, Mr. Sarkar said that if he had done anything wrong, he should have booked and given the opportunity of a fair trail and not beaten up inside a police station.
The video triggered outrage in different circles. Civil rights activists and leaders of Opposition parties said that the conduct of the DM was unbecoming of a public servant.
“We demand that these culprits in the topmost level of the district civil and police administration be suspended and taken to higher police custody immediately,” Surjya Kanta Mishra, secretary, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), West Bengal State Committee, said.
Civil rights activist Ranajit Sur said that, along with the DM, the police officers who had remained mute spectators to the custodial violence of an accused should be held responsible, and disciplinary proceedings should be started against them.
