KOLKATA: Deeming the inordinate delay in completing a trial unacceptable, Calcutta HC has granted bail until Nov-end to a man incarcerated in jail for 11 years and seven months for allegedly killing his two daughters and dumping their bodies on a roadside in 2012.
“Given the conduct of prosecution, we are not sure when the trial will actually conclude,” division bench of Justices Arijit Banerjee and Apurba Sinha Ray said in their order on Sept 24.Prosecution had assured the HC on May 7 that the trial of Istiaque Ahamad alias Istiaque Sk, would be completed within a month. However, on Sept 24, it informed the court that two more witnesses were yet to be examined.
The case dates back to 2012, when taxi driver Jagannath Rai allegedly saw the head of a teenage girl in a municipal vat near Dhakuria station road crossing on Jan 25. He told police that while sitting at a roadside eatery, he saw two people place a synthetic bag in the vat. A foul smell from the bag aroused his suspicion, and he peered inside.
Based on Rai’s statement, a case was lodged at Lake police station against unknown persons, which was later transferred to the homicide squad. Istiaque was arrested on Feb 11, 2013. Simultaneously, based on a letter dated Jan 24, 2012, from Sk Munna, alleging that he had found the body of a girl aged 9 or 10 in a plastic bag on Park Circus railway station platform, a case was registered by Ballygunge GRPS. The two cases were later clubbed.
The prosecution alleged that both deceased girls were Istiaque’s daughters from his second marriage.