‘Boy found bleeding in garage, not known to family’

KOLKATA MURDER: AUTHOR SPEAKS OUT

POLICE HAVE registered a murder case against unknown assailants in the death of Aabesh Dasgupta (17), who was allegedly stabbed with a broken bottle.

Aabesh, a Class XII student, was found bleeding after attending the birthday party of noted author Amit Chaudhuri’s daughter in Ballygunge on Saturday.

While the police initially suspected involvement of another 17-year-old, who they had detained, officers said Sunday that due to conflicting witness testimonies, they were waiting for the postmortem report.

Chaudhuri said the victim was not known to his daughter and was not invited by those who had organised the party.

In a statement, he said: “A tragic incident occurred on 23rd July on the premises of the buildinginwhichmyfamilyandilivein Calcutta, with which our connection is entirely unfortunate, tangential and wholly unexpected.”

“It has occurred during a time when we are grieving for my mother’s death last week. I feel I need to clarify the partly garbled and occasionally intrusive reportage that has appeared in some of the press. Some reports point out that a boy died from an injury in a parking lot in our building amidst a group of young people, who had first congregated for a birthday in my flat. The reports also point out that I rushed the injured boy to a hospital in my car once I discovered him bleeding in a garage in the early evening,” he said.

“The gathering, meant to celebrate my daughter’s eighteenth birthday, had not been organised by us, but by two of her school friends, and was completely unknown to my daughter until she returned home on Saturday at 12.30 pm after her tuition. It was a surprise, and our only condition was that, given the circumstances of mourning for her much-loved grandmother, we would prefer it if they had lunch outside. Secondly, my daughter and, indeed, most of that group did not know the boy who later died of an injury. He had not been invited by those who’d put together the occasion and had come with one of the five boys in the group. Thirdly, there was never any alcohol made available to anyone anywhere in our flat; my wife and I are anyway teetotallers,” the writer added.

Recalling the sequence of events, Chaudhuri said: “Almost everyone returned to the building at around 4.30 pm after lunch. I was informed by my driver at 6.10 pm that a boy was bleeding downstairs. The group had splintered before into different groups, and most of the young people there didn’t see what happened to this boy, who was in the playground with his friend and possibly someone else. When I arrived on the scene, I found that two in the group were attending to the boy in the garage. Others were trying to call an ambulance.”

“I tried to ascertain this boy’s details in order to contact his parents, but couldn’t, as no one had that information, and the friend who had brought him along had left suddenly in his car. I called an ambulance immediately,” he added.

Chaudhuri said he then decided not to wait. “I put him in my car with the two young people who had been trying to help and told my driver to take him to the emergency ward of a nearby hospital. I followed in another car with my wife and daughter, but reached emergency first. We told staff to prepare to attend to what seemed like a very serious injury. The boy could not be saved. Nor could his parents’ identity and contact details be discovered till later, as the boy who had brought him had vanished,” he added.

The police gathered evidence, including CCTV footage, from the apartment complex on Sunday, and also recorded testimonies of guests at the party and the security guards who were on duty.

Police said 17 teenagers had attended the party.

About the 17-year-old, who was initially detained, police said that while he had denied all allegations, he continues to be a person of interest.