Kolkata: The rape case of  a 37-year-old Anglo-Indian woman  at Park Street on 5 February took a new turn when the Investigating officer of this case Mrs. Damayanti Sen was transferred. She was instrumental in solving the case and bringing out the truth in front of everyone.
The victim had claimed that among the persons who were in the car when she was allegedly raped at gunpoint and threatened her while she was returning from a night club, was a man named Lavi Gidwani.
Initially, the rape charges were dismissed by many including Chief Minister Mamta Bannerjee, who termed it as fabricated. However, a series of investigations by Mrs. Damayanti Sen  who was the Joint Commissioner of Police (JCP) revealed that the rape charges were genuine and  it also led to arrest of the culprits.
Sumit Bajaj, Rehman Khan who had masqueraded as Lavi Gidwani and Ruman Khan, were identified and arrested on 18 February. The main accused Kadir Khan is however  absconded.
On Wednesday, Mrs. Damayanti Sen was shunted out to an insignificant post. Sen has now been made Deputy Inspector General of Police (Training) in Barrackpore.
The transfer of an efficient Officer like Damayanti has  received criticism from all sections of society  and media.
However, CM Mamta defends her decision saying that it was her government’s “right” of her government to decide who should perform what job.
“It is the right of the state government to decide what should be done or what should not to be done. It is our prerogative to get the job done by someone who is more effective. What is going on in the section of media is nothing but yellow journalism. The editor of a newspaper has the right to decide its policy and chose its staff. Likewise, the government also the right to make independent decisions,” said Banerjee while addressing a programme here.
Interestingly, Damayanti was Kolkata’s first woman joint commissioner of police  and was holding this portfolio since 2009.  She is among 60 IPS officers reshuffled in the first such major exercise after the Banerjee government came to power in West Bengal in May last year.