December 27 will forever be a black-letter day for the family of constable Mohammad Samsuddin Khan. The news of his death was conveyed to them by relative Aziz Khan around 2 pm.

Aziz, too, works for Calcutta Police and is presently serving at Muchipara police station. His call brought on a pall of gloom on 88, Sudhir Basu Road, in Alipore.

?My husband usually left for work around 8 am, but today he had got up early. I made him breakfast but he did not eat properly, saying that he was on emergency duty. Before he left around 6 am, he promised to be back by afternoon and have a proper meal,? the widowed Hajra Khatun recounted.

She clung on to her grandchildren as she stared at Khan?s photograph. Relatives and neighbours milled around, searching for words to console her.

?We do not want to complain about anything, but we think that he would have had a greater chance of survival in a better hospital. We have learnt that he was not critical when he was taken to the police hospital and even spoke to his colleagues,? said grandson Akhtar.

He added: ?My grandfather was declared dead all of a sudden. He should have been treated at SSKM Hospital.?

Khan?s colleagues, who visited him at the hospital, supported the allegations of the family. ?The infrastructure of the police hospital is not good enough to deal with critical patients. Khan should have been taken to the SSKM or a nursing home and treated by specialists. We have a health insurance, so money would not have been a problem,? said Pradyut Mondol, president of Calcutta Police Association.

Police commissioner Prasun Mukherjee announced that the family would get Rs 1 lakh from his benevolent fund, apart from a significant amount from the state government. The money would be handed over to the family members on Wednesday.

?It is extremely unfortunate and I am personally mourning the death of a brave constable. Despite his injury, Khan did not leave the eviction drive, but stayed on for over an hour with his colleagues and superiors,? said Mukherjee at a press conference at the Lalbazar police headquarters.

Soon after the news spread in the locality, several people visited Khan?s house. ?It was hours before we could break it to his wife. Khan was well loved in the neighbourhood and was a brave policeman. All of us owe him favours, since he was ever-ready to lend a helping hand,? said Sarfuddin, Khan?s brother, who stays in Cossipore.

Khan was in service for 34 years and was the bodyguard of the officer-in-charge of Charu Market police station. His two sons are settled in Dubai. His daughters-in-law stayed with him.