The mysterious death of a graphic designer — Rizwanur Rahman — barely 10 days after his marriage with Priyanka, daughter of one of Kolkata’s richest businessmen, Ashok Todi, and the subsequent public outcry over the role of cops in terrorising Rahman into a mutual divorce have seen skeletons tumbling out of cupboards.

Not only has it tainted the image of the Kolkata police, but many have started questioning the sagacity of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya in delaying the process of an impartial probe into a tragic death.

The incident has once again brought to the fore the economic divide, which is proved to be the reason for marring a legitimate marriage. The situation in other states seems no different from the Marxist-ruled West Bengal.

As a large number of people from the minority community are up in arms against the government for digging its heels about what happened in the case, all available evidences point to a deeper conspiracy by the businessman, allegedly in cahoots with a section of top police officials, to break up the marriage and get back his daughter.

The police exactly did that, but at the cost of a young IT professional, whose sense of self-esteem and dignity prevented him from eloping with the girl. He had to pay the price, of course.

Rahman, 30, was found dead last week with head injuries, besides the railway track at Dum Dum, near the city.

With cops allegedly forcing Rahman to part with his wife “temporarily”, the grief-stricken computer graphic designer ran from pillar to post to speak to his wife, but received stern threats at the end for daring to marry the girl from the Todi family.

Faced with a massive public outcry, both within and outside the Left Front, the chief minister first ordered a CID probe. This failed to appease the widespread resentment and the government had to order a judicial probe.

Even this didn’t save the government from facing the flack, as the probe was headed by a retired judge and the Chief Justice of the Kolkata High Court hadn’t been consulted. Above all, the commission had to depend on the police for inputs, a section of who are accused of involvement in the incident by the family of the deceased and by Priyanka.

“The police have no business to intervene in a registered marriage of an adult couple,” said a CPI(M) leader.

Besides the alliance partners of the CPI(M), the Opposition has hit the streets demanding a probe by the CBI into the episode while human rights organisations, Rahman’s family and colleagues clamoured for justice.

It is learnt that even as the couple showed valid registration papers to the police, top cops refused to consider them.

Priyanka, who was asked to stay with her parents for about a week, never got to know about the death of her husband as she was whisked away to Coimbatore. Two days after Rahman’s death, Priyanka was informed that he suffered a mishap and a couple of days later; she learnt that he was dead.

The outrage against the cops grew louder after Kolkata Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee, who convened a news conference to clear “the confusion”, walked out of it in a huff without answering queries on the “evidence” against the role of some top officials in harassing Rahman. Mukherjee sought to rubbish Rahman’s death as an act of suicide out of frustration and despair.

Rahman’s family members and neighbours allege that the deceased got threatening phone calls from some police officers after his marriage with Priyanka. He also received summons from some IPS officers of the Kolkata police, who wanted him to send his wife back to her parents.

“We demand a neutral inquiry into the case and suspension of the police personnel, who were involved in the murder of my brother,” Rukbanur, Rahman’s brother said. A mob violence in Park Circus followed by allegations by the family members that some CPI(M) leaders offered them money to shut up, stirred an embarrassed chief minister into action.

With the CID quizzing some cops and locals, the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights President Sujato Bhadra produced a letter from Rahman, who had approached him for assistance after he received alleged threatening calls from the police.

In his letter, Rahman has categorically mentioned the names of top cops like Gyanwant Singh and Ajay Kumar, both deputy commissioners as the ones who harassed him over phone. Rahman’s mobile call records confirmed that he received several calls from the police headquarters.

“I married on my own volition; I don’t know how I will spend the rest of my life, but can’t hope to go back to my in-law’s place as it’ll be too painful,” a sobbing Priyanka reportedly confessed to CID officials. With clues and leads emerging faster in the case, this could well turn out to be a trouble for Bhattacherjee in the coming days.