Bowing to intense public pressure and embarrassed by a stunningly adverse Calcutta High Court judgement severely indicting  some top city police officials, Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee on Wednesday announced five police officials would be immediately transferred for their `role’ in the case leading to mysterious death of computer designer Rizwanur Rahman.

“I have already advised the the state chief secretary and home secretary to remove all the five Kolkata police officials from their posts as early as possible,"  Bhattacharjee told newsmen at the state secretariat here.
Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee, deputy commissioner Gyanwant Singh (headquarters) and Ajay Kumar(detective department) faced a stinging criticism in the High Court judgement on Tuesday for their role in trying to break the marriage of an adult couple – Rizwanur and Priyanka Todi -- on the pretext of their social hiatus.
Besides the three, two officers – assistance commissioner (anti-rowdy squad) Sukanti Chakraborty and sub inspector of the same department K Das, face the same fate .

The chief minister who had to face a very hostile crowd, perhaps for the first time in his political career, when he visited Rizwanur's mother at her home last week, said he had earlier decided to remove the officers whose names figured in the case.

“On receipt of the copy of the High Court order, I have decided to transfer them immediately. Since people have raised some questions against them, proper action will be taken once the inquiry is over. Transfer of these officials too amount to some kind of punishment,” Bhattacharjee observed.

Asked if he knew industrialist Ashok  Todi, father of Priyanka, the chief minister lost his cool and shot back:" I don't know Ashok Todi nor have I any intention to meet him in future."

But the chief minister wasted no time in training a gun at the judiciary and questioned the legality of the Calcutta High Court in ordering a CBI probe into the mysterious death of Ruizwanur without consulting the state government.

Earlier in the day, the ruling Left Front partners – CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc – sought to corner the chief minister, alleging that the image of the government has taken a severe beating owing to the role of the cops in intimidating the Muslim youth for breaking the marriage. They   questioned the chief minister as to why the tainted cops were being allowed to continue in their respective posts.

Left Front chairman Biman Bose indicated after the meeting that heads of some cops were likely to roll and the chief minister's announcement later in the secretariat only confirmed it.