Click to play videoNew Delhi: The corridors of Writers buildings are today throbbing with dissent. Never before has any thing else created such a rift within the red bastion. Nandigram is still simmering - where a significant majority are Muslims.
And now even while that issue hasn't been resolved, Rizwanur Rehman case has triggered debate between the powerful minority lobby and Bengal and the ruling Left Front.
Last week, a meeting was hurriedly called for by West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee with those whose support and confidence he desperately needs to continue at the helm of the state.
When the doors closed one can only imagine the angry voices that were raised inside. The minority forum is outraged - and that is no secret. But those within the government are putting up a conciliatory front.
Minister of State, Minority Affairs, Abdus Sattar says, “We are happy with the way the government is handling this. The minority leaders are convinced with Bhattacharjee's statement.”
But one of the most powerful minorities lobby is West Bengal, the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind is not keeping quiet.
This was the same organisation, which took on the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government in Nandigram, a movement that is still being closely fought.
Today Siddiqullah Choudhury who heads the Jamiat in Bengal has drawn the battle lines. The policemen at whom fingers are being pointed at must go even before the probe is over. And that's not a request. It's a firm demand in a firm voice.
Siddiqullah says, “We are unhappy with the way the government is probing this case. The accused policemen have to go.”
Ashok Todi's proximity to the Kolkata police is no secret. Three years ago he spent time behind bars for cricket betting. His relationship with the police grew deeper after he was released.
So deep that his wife would distribute free tee shirts manufactures by Todi's company at police functions. Rizwanur knew about the close links between his father-in-law and the police. So when the harassment started he got in touch with human rights activists.
Meet Sujato Bhadra, he was probably the last person who spoke to Rizwanur before he died. On September 21 Rizwanur called him at 11 minutes past 10 in the morning. A shaky Rizwanur fixed an appointment to meet him later in the day.
He wanted to pass on excerpts of the dossier he was preparing that spoke explicitly about the harassment he was facing from the police - a day-by-day account that he was preparing.
His message to Bhadra was earnest: “I need your help.”
But before a helping hand could be extended, Rizwanur was found dead on these railway tracks.
Sujato couldn't help Rizwanur, some thing he regrets to this day. But Kolkata has now made amends and even an experienced campaigner like Sujato has never seen some thing like this before.
Sujato says, “Now so many Kolkatans have taken to the streets to protest Rizwanur’s killing and they demand justice.”
Sujato is also a witness to a rather unassuming but dangerous tool that the Kolkata Police often use, the anti-rowdy section. This is a wing ensconced in the detective department of the Kolkata Police. Its job - to put it simply to tame rowdies.
But there's more and the rumours go that this is a department that is a weapon that can be bought by influential men who want to threaten their adversaries.
The policemen who are today facing the ire of Kolkatans for their involvement in the Rizwanur case are mostly from the anti-Rowdy section. His brother Rukbanur Rehman cannot understand why his brother was harassed by policemen.
Sadique Hussain who was the first witness to Rizwanur's and Priyanka romance and subsequent marriage was on the run for two weeks before he gathered the courage to speak to us.
He was terrified about the threatening phone calls he got from the anti-Rowdy Section. He wrote a letter to the State Human Rights Commission asking them for help.
The 23-year old student still shudders he remembers the calls he received ARS sub-inspector Krishnendu Das.
The police's plans were clear. After they realized that it would be difficult to convince Priyanka to leave Rizwanur, they tried to scare Sadique, the main witness so he would keep quiet. Thereby making it look like Rizwanur had forced Priyanka to marry him.
But Sadique refused to meet the police without a written notice.
Krishnendu Das and Sukanti Chakraborty are the two men from the anti-Rowdy Section who are today under the scanner. They repeatedly threatened not only Sadique, but Rizwanur as well.
And the documents available with CNN-IBN tell a shocking story. This is not the first time the ARS or its officers have been involved to settle scores - for other people.
CNN-IBN is in possession of the copy of a letter that a woman sent to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on September 7, 2007. The letter states how Krishnendu Das threatened her and her husband on behalf of her brother-in-law who wanted portions of their property handed over to him.
More damning – the visitor slips to the Police Headquarters where the complainant and her husband were summoned by Krishnendu Das.
In the questioning sessions Das told the complainants that if they didn't hand over a portion of the house to the elder brother, a partition would be forcefully built in their presence.
Subroto Mukherjee is an advocate who has been working in Kolkata's lower courts for 10 years now. In the past year he has taken up several cases against the anti-Rowdy section. He doesn't mince words when he says that this section has become a tool in the hands of the rich and the powerful.
Rizwanur’s death is still a puzzle. Was it murder or was it suicide? If it was murder, who killed him? These are answers no one is answering but most people would say, they already know.
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