Mamata BanerjeeAmid an outrage over the murder of two teenage boys from Baguihati town in North 24 Parganas district, the state government on Wednesday transferred the investigation to the CID and suspended two local police officers.
“The officer-in-charge of Baguihati Police Station and the Investigating Officer of the case have been suspended. Chief Minister (Mamata Banerjee) has ordered a CID investigation into the incident. The CID will also investigate whether there was any negligence on the part of the local police. Departmental action will be taken against any police personnel found negligent in their duty,” Chief Secretary Hari Krishna Dwivedi told mediapersons at Nabanna, the secretariat.
According to government sources, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee pulled up Bidhannagar Police Commissioner Supratim Sarkar during an administrative review meeting at the Secretariat, and questioned why the police were negligent in the case. “She could not suppress her anger… She warned Supratim Sarkar and Director General of Police Manoj Malaviya that such a kind of incident should not take place again,” a senior police officer, who was present in the meeting, said.
Bidhannagar Police on Tuesday said that the two teenagers – Atanu Dey (15) and his cousin Abhishek Naskar (16) – who had gone missing on August 22 were killed by a family friend for money. Police had recovered their bodies from Nazat and Habra — both in North 24 Parganas district — on August 23 and 25. But their bodies were lying as “unidentified” all this time at a morgue in Basirhat, some 55 km away. Police said they have arrested four persons in connection with the case and are looking for prime accused Satyendra Chowdhury (25), a family friend of the dead teenagers.
Meanwhile, the murders took a political overtone with leaders of the opposition parties – BJP, CPI(M) and Congress – reaching Baguihati town to meet the family members of the teenagers.
While the BJP demanded a CBI probe, CPI(M) accused the government of trying to suppress the case. “It’s not a matter of politics. I would suggest the family file to move the High Court. The CID investigation will only help the perpetrators. So, we demand a CBI probe into this matter,” BJP MLA and Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said.
CPI(M) leader MD Selim said, “Whenever you are involved in the crime, you will try to suppress the case. We are demanding neutral investigation and stern action against the culprits.”
“This is not new in the TMC government. We saw such incidents in the past,” state Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury said.