The police on Wednesday raided the residence of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) strongman Lakshman Seth to arrest him in connection with the decade-old kidnap and murder of Trinamool Congress supporter Subrata Das.
“A police team went to Seth’s house in Haldia but did not find him,” said Biswajit Mondal, officer-in-charge of Bhupatinagar police station, around 140 km southwest of here.
Subrata Das’s wife, Anima, had filed a complaint against Seth on Tuesday after a skeleton was found in the septic tank of a primary school in Bhupatinagar near Nandigram.
Anima claimed it was the remains of her husband, who had been missing since February 2001, from a pair of black trousers that were found with the skeleton.
“The skeleton has been sent for a DNA test,” Mondal said. Anima also named CPM MLA Sushanta Ghosh and 48 others in her complaint.
Ghosh is already in police custody over a multiple murder case following the discovery of five skeletons near his home in Garbeta on June 4.
According to Anima’s complaint, Seth, Ghosh and another CPM leader Dipak Sarkar had threatened Trinamool activists in the area with dire consequences if they continued to oppose the party at its rally at Baratala on February 10, 2001.
{{/usCountry}}According to Anima’s complaint, Seth, Ghosh and another CPM leader Dipak Sarkar had threatened Trinamool activists in the area with dire consequences if they continued to oppose the party at its rally at Baratala on February 10, 2001.
{{/usCountry}}On February 24, 2001, CPM cadres dragged four Trinamool supporters, Shakti Das, Subrata Das, Animesh Patra and Tapash Mondal, out of their homes and shot them dead, the complaint states. Since their bodies were not found, the police only registered a missing complaint, Anima said. The police have launched a hunt to nab the other accused.
“We are also trying to get information on the whereabouts of Shakti Das, Animesh Patra and Tapash Mondal, who have also been missing after February 24, 2001,” Mondal said.