Agreed to narco test under duress, says Bengal actor’s maid
KOLKATA: Kolkata police has waded into a row by allegedly coercing a 54-year-old domestic help into agreeing to a lie-detector test over a theft reported at Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta’s house in April.
The help, Aloka Naskar, said the police took advantage of her being uneducated. She has filed a petition to withdraw her consent for the narco-analysis test.
“The police misled me. I am illiterate… I was kept in complete dark about the harmful effects of the test. However, my relatives brought these into notice and I decided to withdraw my consent,” said Naskar.
The actor reported a theft of jewellery worth ~9 lakh from her mother’s south Kolkata home in April but told media that she didn’t suspect any of her helps. Sengupta couldn’t be reached comments.
A person subjected to the narco test is injected with sodium amytal or sodium pentothal that neutralise the power to imagine, necessary for lying. The person becomes semi-conscious. A narco analysis may help the police is getting clues but statements made during the test are not admissible in court.
Police denied the charges and said the magistrate explained the test to Naskar and that the results might go against her. “But even after that she agreed to the test. We have all the necessary documents with us,” said deputy commissioner Praveen Kumar Tripathi.
The allegations have led to activists accusing the police of overstepping its limits.
“In my two decades of work in human rights, I have never come across narco test for petty theft. The SC turned down a request for narco test on CPI(Maoist) politburo member Kobad Ghandy since he declined permission,” said Ranjit Sur, vice-president of APDR. SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Police is probing links of the three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants whowerekilledin anencounter in Anantnag district in South Kashmir late Monday night.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, inspector general, Kashmir, Muneer Khan said that the police were investigating the role of the slain militants in the attack as there was suspicion they were involved in the Amarnath Yatra attack in which seven pilgrims lost their lives.
“We are still investigating whether there is any role of these militants in the Amarnath Yatra attack. We can’t be firm but there is suspicion,” he said.
Nineteen of Indian Army’s Rashtriya Rifles and personnel of Special Operations Group of the Jammu and Kashmir police had laid an ambush at Sheikh Mohalla-Watergam near Bulbul Nowgam —seven kilometres from Anantnag town — during which the militants were spotted in a vehicle. Police officials said when the men were challenged they started firing at the forces, resulting in the killing. Three militants — Showket Lohar, Muzaffar Hajam and Naseer Ahmad — all residents of South Kashmir were killed in the ambush.