IPS officer Damayanti Sen, who on Tuesday was asked by the Calcutta High Court to oversee the investigations into four recent rape cases reported from across West Bengal, is known for cracking the Park Street rape case in the face of political pressure.
Sen, 51, is currently posted as Kolkata Police special commissioner. She was the city’s joint commissioner (crime) when the Park Street rape took place in 2012.
Amid growing outrage over the incident, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, in her first term as CM, had termed it “doctored” and “minor”.
Sen carried on with the probe despite pressure. She finally reported that the rape had indeed taken place and made the investigation public. She identified four accused, all of whom were arrested.
She was then transferred out of the city police. The state dispensation called her transfer a “routine affair”, but senior IPS officers said an “upright officer had to pay a price”.
A division bench of HC Tuesday said past experiences have shown that the 1996-batch officer was capable of ensuring an impartial inquiry into the rape cases, reported over the last month from North 24 Parganas, Malda, and south Kolkata.
The next date of hearing in this case is slated for April 20.
