Ex-BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta in ICU; family alleges severe custodial torture, appeals to PM

On Saturday, the daughter of ex-BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta appealed to Prime Minister Modi to save her father's life by allowing his proper medical treatment, making shocking allegations of severe physical torture in custody. Dasgupta was arrested by the Mumbai Police on December 24, 2020, in connection with the alleged TRP manipulation scam. In a plea addressed to the PM, Pratyusha Dasgupta narrated a harrowing sequence of events leading up to her father being admitted to the ICU ward of JJ Hospital in Mumbai.

Daughter Pratyusha in a social media post claimed Partho Dasgupta was brought to the hospital from Taloja Central Jail in an unconscious state at around 1 pm on January 15. She revealed that no one from his family was informed for about 14 hours - till 3 am on the next day. The hospital attributed the reason for the late intimation to the absence of their contact details despite Dasgupta's family providing a contact number to the jail authorities on multiple occasions, as per her post. When his family reached the hospital, they found Dasgupta lying in the emergency room without even a bed sheet to cover him.

Noting that her father's sugar levels had shot up to enormously high levels, his daughter alleged that he was unable to express himself coherently. He was moved to the ICU at around 5 am (16 hours after being brought to the hospital) after which his family has no access to him. Pratyusha Dasgupta mentioned that her father has been suffering from many serious ailments such as diabetes, hypertension and ankylosing spondylitis. Maintaining that the case should follow the natural course of law, she contended that Partho Dasgupta's life is at stake unless there is intervention at the highest levels.

Dasgupta allegedly tortured in jail: 

Complaining about Partho Dasgupta's ill-treatment in jail, she wrote, "The state that he was in clearly indicates that he was being severely ill-treated. He was in a completely traumatised state and it was apparent that he has been physically and mentally tortured. His deplorable conditions were a result of severe and continuous torment inside the jail. Given the state that he is in, I am deeply concerned about his life."

Dasgupta has been in judicial custody after his police remand ended on December 31. The Mumbai Police has accused him of misusing his position as CEO of BARC to help manipulate TRPs. Refuting all allegations, Dasgupta has asserted that he had no control over the TRP data collected by Hansa Research. The next hearing of the ex-BARC CEO's bail plea in the Sessions Court is scheduled to take place on January 19.

Here is Pratyusha Dasgupta's full letter to PM Modi: