Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Paresh Pal and Kolkata councillors Swapan Samaddar and Papiya Ghosh moved the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday, seeking anticipatory bail in the 2021 Abhijit Sarkar murder case. Sarkar, a BJP worker, was killed during the post-poll violence in Kankurgachhi after the results of the West Bengal Assembly elections in May 2021.

Pal’s counsel mentioned the matter before the bench of Justice Joy Sengupta and sought an urgent hearing, following which the court granted permission for the petition to be filed. The matter is likely to be heard on Wednesday.

On June 30, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed a supplementary charge sheet before the additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM) of Sealdah court in the 2021 Sarkar murder case, naming Pal, the Beliaghata MLA, Samaddar, and Ghosh, along with 15 others. Pal and the councillors were to appear before the Sealdah court on July 18.

According to the FIR in the case, Sarkar’s mother, Madhabi, had stated that on May 2, 2021, eight people had barged into their house at Narkeldanga at around 3 pm and started enquiring about her son. The accused alleged that the Sarkars had illegally occupied rooms belonging to the railways and started beating up Abhijit, leaving him unconscious. He was shifted to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

The CBI began its probe on August 25, 2021. After taking over the investigation, the central agency filed a supplementary charge sheet on September 30, 2021, before the ACJM court in Sealdah against 20 accused, including the 15 already charge-sheeted by the state police.

In May 2022, Biswajit Sarkar sat in a dharna outside the CBI office at the CGO Complex in Salt Lake, demanding a “speedy and effective” investigation into his brother’s death. Days after that, the central agency summoned Pal.

Sarkar’s family has alleged that TMC supporters killed him, and that Pal had a role to play in the murder.