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Cops begin fresh probe into alleged suicide of Suvendu Adhikari’s guard in 2018
Police said the guard allegedly shot himself with his service revolver in October 2018 when Adhikari was a minister in chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s previous government
Police in West Bengal have started a fresh probe into the alleged death by suicide in 2018 of a security guard of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari. “We have received a complaint from the victim’s wife on Wednesday. On the basis of that complaint, we have registered a case under section 302 (murder) of IPC (Indian Penal Code) against unknown persons,” said Amarnath K, police superintendent, Purba Medinipur district.
Police said the guard allegedly shot himself with his service revolver in October 2018 when Adhikari was a minister in chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s previous government. The guard succumbed two days later.
Adhikari, who defected to the BJP ahead of this year’s state assembly elections, defeated Banerjee from Nandigram even as her Trinamool Congress (TMC) swept back to power. A protégé-turned-adversary of Banerjee, Adhikari is now the leader of the opposition in the state assembly.
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Police said the guard’s widow, in her three-page complaint letter, demanded a fresh probe into her husband’s death. She could not be contacted for comments. In her complaint letter, she wrote: “From the beginning, I had doubts about my husband’s death. As Adhikari was a powerful man both at the state and district level, and I used to stay with my two daughters, I could not gather the courage to say anything. But now the situation has changed, and I thought I may get justice.”
The complainant wrote when her brother-in-law raised doubts over the “suicide theory”, a close aide to Adhikari told them that the latter was unhappy. The aide, Rakhal Bera, was arrested in June in connection with a job racket.
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said the guard died under mysterious conditions. “His wife does not believe in the theory that was put forward to explain the death. She thinks that the probe was influenced and hence has demanded a fresh probe. She has also named Rakhal Bera.”
Adhikari could not be contacted for comments. The BJP questioned whether the probe was influenced by Banerjee. “They are referring to a case which is three-year-old. At that time too TMC was in power. Mamata Banerjee was the chief minister, and the state home department was under her. If the investigation was influenced at that time, then the allegation is directly against Banerjee,” said BJP leader Jay Prakash Majumdar.
