In a major relief for Trinamool Congress MLA Paresh Pal and Kolkata Municipal Corporation councillors Swapan Samaddar and Papiya Ghosh, the Calcutta High Court of Thursday granted all three anticipatory bail in the 2021 Abhijit Sarkar murder case.
Sarkar, a BJP worker, was killed during the alleged post-poll violence in Kankurgachi after the results of the West Bengal Assembly elections in May 2021.
On Thursday, a single bench of Justice Joy Sengupta granted them anticipatory bail with certain conditions.
According to the court, if the three, while appearing before the lower court on CBI summons, get arrested, they will be granted bail immediately on a bond of Rs 1 lakh. They will not be permitted to enter Sarkar’s house in Shitalatla Lane and will have to cooperate in the investigation. The court added that the witnesses should not be influenced or threatened, and none of the accused can leave the country.
Pal, Samaddar and Ghosh moved the Calcutta High Court in July, seeking anticipatory bail in the case.
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 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 allegedly barged into their house at Narkeldanga 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 rushed 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.
Meanwhile, in the Nabanna Abhijan violence on August 9 case, the single bench of Justice Joy Sengupta granted anticipatory bail to former BJP MP Arjun Singh, BJP councillor Sajal Ghosh, BJP leader Shanku Deb Panda and Kali Khatik with the condition that they will cooperate with the investigation. The same bench had earlier granted anticipatory bail to BJP MLA and former cricketer Ashok Dinda in the case.