Calcutta police chief transferred

Senior police officers have been accused of high level corruption

The police chief in the Indian city of Calcutta and four other officers have been transferred in connection with the mysterious death of a Muslim man.

They are accused of threatening Rizwanur Rahman, who was found dead last month near the city's airport.

Mr Rahman had recently married the daughter of a rich Hindu businessman who allegedly opposed the union.

Police say he committed suicide but his brother says he was murdered. The high court has ordered a federal inquiry.

Candlelit vigils

Mr Rahman, a computer graphics designer, was found dead with a head wound on 21 September on a train track near the city's airport area of Dumdum.

Police described the death as a case of suicide.

The High Court is at loggerheads with the government over the case

The discovery led to protests by angry crowds of friends and relatives who attacked police in central Calcutta, alleging foul play.

His family say he was being threatened by police to break off his marriage, and that police and Mr Todi are responsible for his death.

"This is a case of cold-blooded murder but the police are trying to show it as suicide. That is preposterous," said the dead man's brother, Rukbanur Rehman.

The state government has now removed the police chief, Prasun Mukherjee, and four other senior officers.

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya said that his government had decided to transfer the five officials to positions from "where they cannot influence the inquiry".

He said that if a federal police inquiry found them guilty, they would be punished in accordance with the law.

The removal of the men from their posts came a day after the Calcutta high court ordered that the case be transferred to India's top investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Tens of thousands of people from all social and religious backgrounds have been holding rallies and candlelight vigils in Calcutta to demand justice for Mr Rehman, the BBC's Subir Bhaumik in Calcutta says.

It has also become a talking point on national television and on online blogs.