CPM leader arrested for killing Cooch Behar Trinamul activist

CPM leader arrested for killing Cooch Behar Trinamul activist

5 March 2012

statesman news service

SILIGURI, 5 MARCH: CPI-M Cooch Behar northern zonal committee secretary Muhammad Saffi Ahmed was arrested today on charges of killing Trinamul leader Sarat Chandra Roy.

Roy was shot dead at Balapara in the Khagrabari gram panchayat area of Cooch Behar on Saturday night. Additional district superintendent of police Prasun Bandypadhyay said: “After interrogation we have arrested the CPI-M zonal secretary on charges of conspiracy behind the murder of a Trinamul leader.”

“Police are still interrogating CPI-M Khagrabari local committee secretary Samir Bhattacharya,” he said, refusing to divulge further details.

The district CPI-M leadership, however, criticised police for the arrest. “If the police do not release them by tonight, the CPI-M will begin agitation  against police for politically-motivated inquiry into a murder,” said party Cooch Behar district secretary Tarini Roy. “The role of police will help culprits escape and the truth will not come to the fore.”

“It was crystal clear that there was a factional feud between Sarat Chandra Roy and Trinamul leader Manindranath Barman. The matter came to light when Roy became party president of Khagrabari by defeating Mr Barman by one vote on 20 February,” said Mr Roy.

The Trinamul district president, Mr Rabindranath Ghosh, said: “Police are interrogating them to spot the culprits. It is too early to comment on whether the CPI-M activists were involved in murder.” Mr Ghosh yesterday claimed that local criminals had killed the Trinamul leader.

Interim remand for murder accused

BURDWAN, 5 MARCH: Trinamul Congress supporters accused of murder of two CPI-M district committee members here were ordered for interim remand to CID custody by the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court today. However, the accused were scheduled to be produced before the Court on 7 March and The district police while producing them at the Court on 23 February didn’t seek their remand. The CID team headed by Mr Kalyan Banerjee, Inspector, CID (Homicide) filed a petition at the CJM’s Court seeking production of the accused at the Court today and subsequent permission for two days remand for the four accused who are in Jail Custody now. On 3 March, the CID officials had interrogated them in the jail. The CID’s petition stated that the remand was essential as the accused have confessed about the crime and told the officials that eight-nine persons were involved in the offence. Now the CID wants to take the accused to the place of the incident to help recover the arms used in the murder. It will also help locate the houses of the other accused. The four accused ~ Mr Chotan Chakraborty, Mr Patitpaban Ta, Mr Surajit Ta and Mr Bhupal Goswami were arrested on the day of the murder of two CPI-M district committee leaders ~ Pradip Ta and Kamal Gayen in Dewandighi locality near the town on 22 February. Eighteen others named in the FIR, however, are still at large. Meanwhile, Calcutta High Court ordered the state to transfer the case to CID due to slow progress of the case as the police had failed to produce the postmortem report of the slain leaders even after 10 days of the occurrence.
The CJM, Mrs Yesmin Ahmed in the first half allowed the production of the accused. sns