Kolkata, Sep 7 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, while acknowledging dereliction of duty by the police, on Monday announced disciplinary measures against five officers from Murshidabad in connection with their investigation into the murder of a bidi worker in Samserganj area.
Thirty-six-year-old Sujit Mondal, who was also a BJP worker, went missing on August 28 and a ransom call was made to his house. Parts of his dismembered body were later found. Three people have been arrested so far in connection with the incident, which police suspect involves dispute over financial dealings.
Addressing a press conference following a cabinet meeting at the state secretariat Nabanna, Adhikari declared that the case is being handed over to the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
The castigated officers included the Superintendent of Police of Jangipur police district, Surinder Singh, and Farakka Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Sheikh Shamsuddin, along with officers of the local Samsergunj police station, the chief minister said.
He also announced compensation of Rs 10 lakh from the chief minister’s relief fund to the victim’s family and offered a job of a home guard to Mondal’s wife Sumona, should she agree to accept it and cleared the minimum qualifications for the position.
“The brutal manner in which the victim was killed — using animal skinning instruments to chop off body parts — brought back the memories of the killings of Haragobinda Das and Chandan Das (who were murdered in the same region during the April 2025 anti-Waqf Act violence in Murishdabad),” Adhikari said.
“We have taken up the matter very seriously, after it came to my notice two days ago. The information reached us late because of the slackness of local police. The DGP and the home secretary have personally inquired about the case on Sunday. Although the victim’s family members informed the police at the right time, the local police were found to be non-cooperative,” the CM, who was flanked by Home Secretary Sanghamitra Ghosh and DGP Siddh Nath Gupta, added.
Based on the findings of the top bureaucrat and the state’s top police officer, Adhikari said the administration has decided to suspend ASI Sumanta Kumar Das, in-charge of Dhulian police outpost, and SI Saiful Alam, second officer of Samserganj police station.
The CM said IC Subrata Ghosh of the same police station would be closed in police lines and an investigation would be initiated against him by the DGP. A new IC for the police station would be notified, he added.
“We are giving punishment transfer to Farakka SDPO Sk Shamsuddin, while Jangipur police district SP Surinder Singh will be issued a show-cause notice along with a warning by the Home Department,” Adhikari said.
Mondal, a resident of Samserganj’s Dhuliyan, went missing on August 28. His family later received a ransom call for Rs 5 lakh. Local reports suggested that after initial allegations of police inaction and tension at the Samserganj police station, a formal investigation was launched.
During the course of investigation, police scanned CCTV footage and found a man, identified as Samiul Sheikh, taking Mondal to a rented house on a motorcycle in the morning of August 28. Hours later, the same man was seen leaving the house with large bags, carrying away what investigators believe were dismembered body parts.
On September 4, local police made a grisly recovery of a severed leg from a local canal, which investigators confirmed belonged to Mondal, while Disaster Management and police teams searched the feeder canal for the remaining parts of his body.
Three persons — Samiul Sheikh, Tajkira Bibi and Jani Sheikh — were later arrested in connection with the murder.
Preliminary police investigations have so far indicated the murder stemmed from a financial dispute, in which Mondal had allegedly lent a substantial amount of money to Samiul, and escalating tensions over the repayment demands led to the targeted killing and subsequent dismemberment.
“Merely arresting the accused is not enough. They must be properly interrogated in custody so that they can be convicted in court and given exemplary punishment,” the CM said, justifying the handover of the case to the CID. PTI SMY ACD
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.