The West Bengal Police on Wednesday, 14 February, celebrated Valentine’s day in a unique way. According to Hindustan Times, West Bengal’s North Dinajpur Police delivered flowers and gifts to the homes of two men and invited suggestions on how to rectify their mistakes.
It all began with the death of a Class X student Pratik Chattopadhyay in an accident near Siliguri More on 9 February. The incident resulted into clashes between residents and police, drawing a lot of criticism from citizens for the way the police handled the situation.
Later in the day, Shankar Roy, a school teacher, and Debopriya Chakraborty, a businessman, posted comments on Facebook and slammed the police for allegedly mishandling the matter, reported Hindustan Times.
However, what the police did later surprised everyone.
On Wednesday morning, the police landed at the doors of Roy and Chakraborty, not with handcuffs, but with flowers, sweets and a band. Yes! A band.
They also carried printouts of the Facebook posts and a letter from the district police superintendent.
Roy’s father, Ragunath, opened the door and received the gifts on behalf of Shankar, who wasn’t home.
We went to the two families with the gifts and message of love as per the instruction of district police super, Shyam SinghSandip Chakraborty, a sub inspector of Raiganj police station, told Hindustan Times.
In the letter, the district police chief apologised for any mistakes made by his department and also asked them to give suggestions to improve the police’s functioning.
“It was a pleasant surprise. After the student died in road accident I was quite disturbed and wrote against the police,” Debopriya Chakraborty told Hindustan Times.
Shankar’s father, Ragunath said, that he doesn’t endorse his son’s views on the matter.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)