West Bengal: The curious case of jailed NGO head Ankur Das

On January 10 this 12 months, the Jalpaiguri police in Mamata Banerjee-ruled West Bengal arrested an NGO Head named Ankur Das for serving to a person, Ram Prasad Dewan, to hold the corpse of his mom to his residence.

The incident dates again to January 5, 2023, when Ankur learnt in regards to the case of Ram. The latter was requested to cough up ₹3000 to avail of the ambulance service of the Jalpaiguri Medical College and Hospital.

Unable to bear the expense, Ram and his father Joy Krishna Dewan had been left with no choice however to hold the lifeless physique of 72-year-old Lakshmirani Dewan on their shoulders. This was even if the hospital was 50 kilometres away from their home within the Nagardangi space.

Ram Prasad Dewan carrying the lifeless physique of his mom with the assistance of Joy Krishna Dewan

The deceased was admitted to the hospital on yesterday after she complained about respiratory points. It should be talked about that the ambulance earlier charged ₹900 to convey Lakshmirani Dewan to the hospital however raked up the value by 3 instances when requested to drop them at their residence.

Das, who runs an area NGO in Jalpaiguri, was greatly surprised by the sight of the father-son duo struggling to hold the lifeless physique. He instantly intervened and offered a mortuary van to them.

Meanwhile, a video of the incident went viral on social media. Soon after, a police grievance was lodged towards Ankur Das by the top of an area ambulance organisation, Dilip Dutta.

While chatting with the media, he alleged that it was a staged act (Sajano Ghotona), aimed to defame the State authorities and tarnish the picture of the Jalpaiguri district.

On January 10, 2023, the Jalpaiguri Kotwali police picked up Ankur Das and interrogated him for 8 hours. He was thereafter arrested and produced earlier than an area courtroom on the next day.

Instead of dismissing the case, the courtroom despatched the NGO Head to police custody for a interval of 4 days. Ankur Das was booked below Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 120b (felony conspiracy) and 34 (widespread intention) and 500 (defamation).

SP (Jalpaiguri) Biswajit Mahato stated, “…Ankur Das was arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by the secretary of the Private Ambulance Owners’ Association. The complainant alleged that he has been defamed.”

Ankur Das will get out on bail, picture by way of Tv9 Bangla

On Sunday (January 15), Ankur Das was produced earlier than the courtroom once more and this time the police sought a further 5 days in custody. However, the courtroom relented and granted interim bail to the NGO Head, whose solely crime was to assist a struggling father-son duo.

While chatting with TV9 Bangla, he stated, “I condemn what the police did under the pressure of the powerful. Attempts have been made to hide the real culprits during these six days. But the way the people of Jalpaiguri stood by me is an honour. It is the first step in the victory of truth.”

However, Ankur Das can’t step exterior the Jalpaiguri district with out the prior approval of the courtroom and wishes to go to the Jalpaiguri Kotwali police station as soon as every week.