FOUR DAYS into being inducted by the Calcutta High Court to investigate the mysterious death of a young graphic designer, Rizwanur Rehman, after he married a rich Hindu girl, daughter of a hosiery industrialist, Ashok Todi , the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked the businessman for the murder of his son-in-law.

The CBI late on Friday registered a case against Kolkata-based industrialist Ashok Todi for the alleged murder Rizwanur Rehman in West Bengal in September.

The CBI has demolished the suicide theory and promised a transparent and impartial probe.

The CBI has studied Tuesday’s judgement by the Calcutta High Court ordering an inquiry by it into Rizwanur’s death.  Based on the court's directive the CBI has registered a case under section 302 of Indian Penal Code against Ashok Todi and others. The others have not been named.

A special team headed by a joint director is conducting the inquiry. On Saturday the team is likely to visit the spot where the body of the young graphic artist was found under mysterious circumstances.

After the Calcutta High Court judgement and the removal of three IPS officers and two other police officers involved in hounding Rizwanur, demands were raised for action against Priyanka’s father Ashok Todi at whose behest the police went after Rizwanur. The state police had avoided taking action against Todi who had filed false complaints against Rizwanur, alleging that he abducted his daughter and robbed her of her jewellery. As such the police ought to have filed a case against him. The new police chief was stated to be uncertain whether action could be initiated since two probes, a judicial and a CBI are on. But lawyers were confident that Todi could be charged with misleading the police under Section 211 of the IPC which could mean jail of up to two years. But now the CBI has charged him with murder.

Rizwanur (30) was found alongside a railway track in the outskirts of Kolkata with a smashed head on September 21, less than a month after he married Priyanka Todi.  Ashok Todi who owns the hosiery company Lux Cozi had visited Rizwanur’s house and tried to brow beat his Muslim son-in-law to annul the marriage. When Rizwanur and Priyanka refused and the bride maintained that she had married him of her own free will and wanted to live with him, Todi filed false cases and goaded the police to see to the return of his daughter. Palms were alleged to have been greased though nothing has been proved yet. Both the former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and the incumbent Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, along with several Left Front ministers have openly stated that money and muscle power had come into play.

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday had questioned the legitimacy of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) inquiry ordered by the state government and berated the Police Commissioner and his colleagues. In the wake of the judgement and cowed by growing public opinion the West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, following a Left Front meeting on Wednesday, was forced to give the five police officers, including city police chief Prasun Mukherjee, the marching orders.