Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Monday directed the state health department to constitute a new medical board at SSKM Hospital to assess the injuries of two men who died at a village fair in Khejuri, East Midnapore, earlier described as victims of electrocution.
A division bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md Shabbar Rashidi asked the board to submit by September 15 a comprehensive report identifying which injuries might have led to the deaths.
The order came after the bench noted glaring inconsistencies between two autopsy reports. The first autopsy, conducted at Midnapore, made no mention of external injuries, while the second, carried out by a medical board at SSKM Hospital, recorded 24 injuries on the body of one victim and multiple injuries on the other.
On September 3, the bench had expressed concern over these mismatches, observing that the differences raised serious questions about the circumstances leading to the deaths.
The victims’ families had approached the High Court seeking a CBI probe, claiming the men were assaulted before death and had not died of electrocution. Acting on their plea, a single bench had earlier ordered the second post-mortem at SSKM.
The contradictions in the autopsy reports had prompted the single bench to shift the investigation from Khejuri police to the CID. Justice Tirthankar Ghosh had directed ADG CID, Bhavani Bhawan, to assign a DIG-rank officer from the homicide section to lead the probe and ensure both autopsy reports were handed over to the investigating officer.