Tension over drug rehab centre death

Kolkata: A 25-year-old inmate was allegedly beaten to death in a free drug rehabilitation centre at Belgharia on the northern fringes of the city on Tuesday morning, barely four days after he had been admitted there. The relatives of the victim, Suman Sardar, and the local people went on the rampage inside the rehab centre where several elderly ailing persons were also kept.
A large contingent of police, including RAF and Combat force, led by senior police officers from Barrackpore commissionerate rushed to the spot to bring the situation under control. Police rescued all the inmates, including the elderly and detained four persons, including the building owner identified as Sushanta Sarkar.
According to local sources, Suman Sardar, a resident of Baguiati’s Hatiara, was admitted to the Well Wisher Foundation at Belgharia’s Jatindas Nagar on April 22 to help him overcome his alcohol addiction.
His family members alleged they were informed about his illness on Tuesday morning by a rehab centre staff. “They called to tell us that he had fallen ill seriously but he wasn’t admitted to hospital. We rushed to the centre to find him lying dead. Several injury marks were also found all over his body. He was beaten up so brutally by the staff members of the centre that he died,” a relative of the victim said.
Locals alleged that the rehabilitation centre was being run illegally. “I have no information about such a centre in this locality. It looks like a residential building from outside but we don’t know that a rehabilitation centre was run inside the building and several people were admitted there. I have asked police to take legal action against the accused,” said Debjani Mukherjee, the local councillor of ward no. 35 in Kamarhati municipality.
“We have received a murder complaint in this connection and detained four persons of the rehab centre,” said Ratan Chakraborty, inspector-in-charge of Belgharia police station.