Released cop under scanner

Atindranath Dutta, the officer-in-charge of Sankrail police station who was abducted and released by Maoists, is under the police scanner.

The West Bengal police are investigating contradictory statements given by Dutta after his release. After a five-hour interrogation at the state police headquarters in Kolkata, sleuths could not get satisfactory answers from Dutta on certain incidents related to his abduction.

CID sources said when asked why he did not resist Maoists attempts to kidnap him, Dutta  said he was not carrying his revolver then. “He could not answer why he was not carrying his revolver even though he is posted in a Maoist-affected area,” the source said.
“Dutta has also violated service conduct rules by speaking to media and divulging every detail of the case,” IGP(Western Range) Kuldeep Singh said.

“We are probing about any possible role of Dutta and other police personnel of the Sankrail police station in the attack by Maoists. If some anomalies are found, action will be taken,” Singh said.

Dutta has been asked to join duty immediately, Singh said. “He was released on October 22 and we gave him three days to recoup. We found him hale and hearty during his appearance on television after his release,” Singh said.