Nithari witness drowns

Statesman News Service

MALDA, Sept 6: Murshidabad police today started a fresh inquiry into the unnatural death of Jatin Sakar, who is one of the witnesses of Nithari killing case. On Sunday Murshidabad police registered the case that Jatin was drunken and drowned in Bhagirathi River in Berhampur town. But after receiving a phone call from the Uttar Pradesh police last evening the superintendent of police Mr Rahul Srivastava has asked the deputy superintendent of police (headquarters) to investigate the matter thoroughly including the report of his post mortem. Pinki Sarkar, Jatin Sarkar’s daughter was one of the victims in Maninder Singh Pandher Nithari case. “Jatin was the ‘de facto complainant’ of Nithari case. “We have started investigating into the case after receiving a phone call from Uttar Pradesh police”, the Murshidabad SP Mr Rahul Srivastava told the reporters today. Jatin and his family returned to Berhampur’s Gandhi colony in Murshidabad, 225 km from Kolkata, a few weeks ago from Gaziabad police station area. He had initiated a case against Maninder Shingh Pandher and alleged that he killed his daughter. Jatin’s wife Vandana Sarkar told reporters that she understood that her husband drowned in the river because he was drunk.Vandana told reporters that they had received threat calls on his son’s cell phone in the last few days, before her husband’s death. The threat call was related to the Nithari case. “I suspect there is a mystery behind the death of my husband”, she told reporters. She did not lodge any complaint officially with police. Vandana said: “Maya Sarkar, who was one of the co-accused in Nithari killing case and is under custody, had introduced Pinki with Maninder.” Maya, a resident of Malda’s Bamongola police station, was the maid at Maninder’s residence.