Police officers speak with Sujit Mondal’s family members on Monday
Kolkata/Berhampore: After police dragged their feet on investigating the missing complaint of a 46-year-old BJP worker in Murshidabad’s Dhulian, only to find his mutilated body six days later, CM Suvendu Adhikari on Monday said the case would be transferred to CID. He also announced a Rs 10-lakh compensation package and a job promise for the victim’s widow, while cracking the whip on several senior cops, including suspending two police officers. “An unfortunate incident occurred in Dhulian, ward 13 of Samserganj. Sujit Mondal went missing on Aug 28. After Sujit went missing on the morning of Aug 28, his family members suspected he might have been murdered. After a day-long search with divers yielded no result, police recovered a portion of a leg on Sept 4, which has been sent for DNA tests.
Three persons — Samiul Sheikh, Tajkira Bibi and Johnny Sheikh — have been arrested in connection with this incident,” Adhikari said. Saying that the matter had been taken up very seriously, the CM said: “The home secretary has personally conducted a probe. The CM said ASI Sumanta Kumar Das, in-charge of Dhulian outpost, and SI Shaiful Alam, second officer of Samsherganj police station, have been suspended for negligence. Farakka SDPO Sheikh Shamsuddin has been transferred and Jangipur SP Surinder Singh has received a warning from the home department,” Adhikari said.
His body was later found cut into pieces. There was lapse on the part of police. The wife, Sumana Mondal, did not initially receive any help from police. “Samsherganj police inspector Subrata Ghosh has been line-closed (removed from active duty). They lodged a missing person’s report as he did not return by nightfall. The police reviewed CCTV footage and discovered that Sujit had been called to a deserted place in Dhulian, adjacent to Farakka. Police then detained the suspects. Following repeated interrogation, the trio confessed to jointly plotting Sujit’s murder. Both Sujit and Samiul were involved in money-lending; Samiul had borrowed significant sums over several phases but failed to repay them. Police learnt that Sujit was strangulated to death, after which his body was cut into several pieces, packed into two sacks and thrown into the river near Ballalpur bridge in Farakka. The accused trio is currently in seven days of police remand.