One more person, identified as Swapan Sharma, has also been arrested. Sources in the police said that Sharma is a contract killer.
So far, seven persons, most of them from neighbouring Bihar, have been arrested in connection with the murder of TMC leader, who was considered close to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Briefing mediapersons, ADG (South Bengal) Supratim Sarkar said: “Interrogations of the arrested persons have revealed that Rs 50 lakh had passed hands between the conspirators and the assailants to execute the crime. We will find out the motive soon,” Sarkar said.
“Two more accused, who were directly involved in the attack, are still absconding. The investigation into the murder is in an advanced stage,” he added.
On Tuesday, police summoned Narendranath Tiwari, TMC’s Malda town president and party’s Hindi cell district unit chief. After a marathon questioning at Englishbazar Police Station, Tiwari was arrested on Wednesday. Police said Tiwari’s two brothers, Dhirendranath and Akhilesh, were also questioned.
Tiwari and the six others have been booked for murder, criminal conspiracy and under various sections of the Arms Act.
“Prima facie, personal grudge over an old incident seems to be the motive behind the murder. Further investigation is on,” a senior police officer, involved in the probe, said.
On January 2 morning, Sarkar was shot from a close range by three men on a motorbike in the Englishbazar area of Malda town. He succumbed to injuries later in the day. Within 24 hours, police arrested three youths, two from Katihar in neighbouring Bihar. Soon after the murder, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit out at Malda Superintendent of Police Pradeep Kumar Yadav, holding him accountable for the murder. Alleging that Sarkar’s murder was “due to the negligence of police”, the CM had said: “He was attacked before. He used to get security. It was later withdrawn.”
Meanwhile, reacting to Tiwari’s arrest, TMC leader and chairman of Englishbazar Municipality Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury on Wednesday said the accused leader had earlier threatened Sarkar with dire consequences.
“He (Tiwari) must have committed the crime which is why he has been arrested. Tiwari was trying to take control of the Englishbazar, but Babla became the councillor of the area. During the municipality elections, there was a fight between the two leaders. We all had backed Sarkar then.”
He also alleged that “someone was probably helping Tiwari”. “I will tell the name only to our chief minister (Mamata Banerjee) and no one else. We had informed the police also. Tiwari had told many people that he would kill Sarkar, and that’s what happened,” Chowdhury claimed.
He also claimed that Swapan Sharma, arrested on Wednesday, had attacked him several times. Sharma was out on bail from the High Court.
Minister of State (North Bengal Development) Sabina Yeasmin said: “This whole incident is heartbreaking. From day one, we were saying that it was not a normal incident and we need to find out the main culprit behind the murder. The police are doing their job and we want them to go to the roots of this crime and arrest all those who are involved.”
Yeasmin refuted the allegations that she had ordered the withdrawal of police protection for Sarkar. “It is completely baseless,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, the Opposition hit out at the Trinamool Congress, and said that the murder was the fallout of “infighting and corruption” in the ruling party.
“Many are calling it a political murder, but I do not think so. In the last municipal election, Tiwari was not given a ticket by the TMC. So, he contested as an Independent. Dulal Sarkar’s murder is related to land issues. The whole infighting is related to money and land deals. All these leaders have earned crores through land deals,” alleged state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar.
Former Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of trying to “suppress the matter”. “This did not happen all of a sudden. From day one, Dulal Sarkar’s wife has been alleging that big names are involved, and to suppress the matter, we are seeing ministers and the Mayor rushing at the behest of the chief minister. What is Mamata Banerjee trying to suppress that need to know,” Chowdhury said.
With PTI Inputs