Retired IPS officer from West Bengal, Gaurav Dutt, was found lying in a pool of blood in his Salt Lake home earlier this week, on February 19. Doctors at the hospital he was taken to, pronounced him dead. Dutt’s wrist was found slashed, and it has so far been considered to be a case of suicide.
The unnatural death, which is being investigated by police, has taken a completely new turn with a report published by the CPIM’s mouthpiece Ganashakti, in which a letter purportedly written by Dutt accuses chief minister Mamata Banerjee of lacking compassion and “systematically destroying” “hard-working officers” like him.
In the letter purportedly written by Dutt which was published by Ganashakti, it is written: “Madam Chief Minister, Thus a self-imposed death sentence by me should give you peace of mind, happiness and contentment and may this act result in Sinful reactions which will cleanse you and awaken in other Senior police officers, Some compassion and empathy which is sadly lacking today.”
The letter also says, “This act is a symbolic protest against the dirty games of ruling govt. meant to pick and choose honest, hard-working officers like me and… and destroy them systematically and make them example for others who are not servile/subservient enough.”
The Bengal Story could not independently confirm the authenticity of the letter. It is not clear whether Dutt meant his impending suicide by “this act”, though it apparently seems to.
There is also a social media post doing the rounds that claimed Dutt didn’t get Rs 38 lakh as pension and Rs 20 lakh as gratuity – all due to him – and didn’t have money for medical expenses for himself and his wife. The post further claims that Dutt was not only kept on compulsory waiting, several false charges were started against him and all retirement benefits had been taken away. The social media post even asks the “murderer Mamata Banerjee” to be held guilty for the officer’s suicide.
Dutt was superintendent of police of Midnapore (undivided) in 1999-2000 when incidents of clashes between Trinamool Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) took place when the CPI-M led Left Front government was in power. The Trinamool Congress as Opposition party had alleged several times that Dutt was partial to the ruling party.
The Bengal Story got in touch with the state home department to learn whether Dutt had indeed been denied the retirement and other financial benefits.
Garurav Dutt had retired on December 31, 2018. Before retiring, Dutt, Inspector General of Police (on compulsory waiting), had forwarded his original service book and other documents (for getting retirement benefits) on August 27, 2018, months ahead of his retirement, said an officer. According to a senior officer, the IPS cell had forwarded this to the Home & Hill Affairs Department for sanctioning these.
Dutt drew Rs 1,99,600 as his last basic pay. Accordingly, his pension was sanctioned at Rs 99,800 as provisional pension and Rs 1,08,782 as gross pension for January 2019. “This has already been credited to his bank account by the DDO, West Bengal Police Directorate, on 29 January, 2019,” said an officer. A total amount of Rs 1,83,938 has also been released to his bank account on February 7 this year as Group Insurance.
His gratuity of Rs 20 lakh hasn’t been sanctioned by the government as there were departmental proceedings going on against him, he said.
According to the officer of the home department, Dutt had withdrawn Rs 48 lakh from his General Profident Fund (GPF) in January 2018, which is 90 per cent of the total amount. The remaining 10 per cent has been asked by the IPS cell to be cleared and is now with the Principal Accountant General for approval. The proposal for leave salary payment too is pending clearance.
The officer has been on compulsory waiting following several complaints against him. Dutt in fact, had been faced with two disciplinary proceedings. The first was started by the West Bengal government’s personnel and administrative reforms (PAR) department on March 24, 2010, on the recommendation of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (order dated May 28, 2009). According to a senior officer, the relevant file could not be traced despite repeated attempts and requests sent to the Home Vigilance Branch and the P&AR department.
As the file was untraceable, and no final order had been passed, this departmental proceeding had to be dropped just prior to his retirement.
As for the second departmental proceeding, a chargesheet was issued on May 25, 2012. There was charge against him of “gross financial irregularities regarding procurement of items on a UN project” while he was posted as DIG, Police Training School, Barrackpore. The disciplinary proceeding was given to the State Vigilance Commission (SVC) for inquiry, and the report was submitted to the Disciplinary Authority (DA) on February 12, 2019. According to the home department officer, “The investigating officer had exonerated him from all charges. However, the SVC gave a strong dissenting note saying he disagrees with the opinion and analysis of the IO.”
Under this backdrop, there seems to be a strange clash going on with CPI(M) alleging that the Trinamool Congress chief is responsible for the suicide of an officer against whom the Left Front government itself had initiated the action.
According to a senior officer, should chief minister Mamata Banerjee have shown leniency in appointing him in an important position? Was it practical when the departmental proceedings were on? Should the departmental proceedings have been expedited? Would it have been unfair to those who had made the allegations against him in the first place? These are ethical and moral questions that may not offer simple straightforward answers.
