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CBI questions 5 Bengal cops in Congress councillor’s murder case
Congress councillor Tapan Kandu was shot from close range in front of his associates and several eyewitnesses on March 13.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday questioned five police personnel at Jhalda in Bengal’s Purulia district during the probe into the March 13 murder of local Congress councillor Tapan Kandu, officials of the probe agency said.
The five district police personnel - a woman sub-inspector, two constables and two home guards - were confined to their barracks on March 20 following charges of dereliction of duty during the murder on a road. CBI officials took them to the scene of the crime on Friday.
Kandu was shot from close range in front of his associates and several eyewitnesses. His wife, Purnima Kandu, who filed the petition before the Calcutta high court single judge bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha seeking a CBI probe, alleged that the police personnel, who were manning a security check point on the road during the murder, did not respond to the family’s request to rush to the crime scene which was within walking distance.
Justice Mantha ordered the CBI probe on April 4 and made strong observations against the Purulia police which claimed on April 3 that a sum of ₹7 lakh was given to the killers by the victim’s brother Naren Kandu, who was arrested the same day. Purulia district superintendent of police S Selvamurugan claimed that the murder was the fallout of an old family dispute and had nothing to do with politics.
The CBI also initiated the process of taking into its custody the four suspects arrested so far by the police. They include Naren Kandu, his son Dipak, businessman Asif Khan, and an alleged criminal, Kalebar Singh, who was arrested from Bokaro in Jharkhand. Dipak, who contested the civic polls on a TMC ticket against his uncle and lost, was the first person to be arrested on March 15.
A CBI team led by deputy inspector general of police Akhilesh Singh spoke to Purnima Kandu, who is also a Congress councillor at Jhalda municipality, the victim’s nephew Mithun Kandu and three eyewitnesses to the murder.
Purnima Kandu had alleged that the inspector-in-charge of Jhalda police station, Sanjib Ghosh, had been putting pressure on her husband to join the TMC since the verdict to the civic polls had led to a hung board at Jhalda municipality.
On April 3, Selvamurugan said, “No involvement of the IC of Jhalda was found during investigation.” He also claimed that an audio clip, purportedly containing a telephonic conversation between Sanjib Ghosh and a Mithun Kandu, would be examined later.
The clip was submitted before the court as evidence. Justice Mantha said on April 4 that both cell phones should have been seized and examined. He also observed that the murder was linked to politics and raised questions on why the allegations against Sanjib Ghosh were not probed.
CBI officials said Ghosh may be summoned soon for questioning.
Niranjan Baishnab, a friend of Tapan Kandu who witnessed the murder, died by suicide in his residence on Wednesday. His family filed a complaint against the police on Thursday. A hand-written note found in Baishnab’s room said he could not take the pressure of being repeatedly summoned and questioned by the Jhalda police.
Purnima Kandu, who alleged that Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders and the police were involved in the murder, said on Friday that she was happy to talk to CBI officials.
“They asked me to describe everything in detail. I am hopeful that the CBI will arrest the culprits,” she said.
The Bengal government on Thursday challenged the single judge bench order for a CBI probe and moved the division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj seeking an early and expeditious hearing. The chief justice asked the counsel for the state to submit a plea for the court’s consideration.
In the Jhalda municipality elections that took place on February 27, the Congress and TMC won five seats each, while two seats were wrested by Independent candidates. One independent candidate later joined the TMC. The TMC formed the board on April 5 amid protests by Congress workers.
