State removes Rajganj BDO after SC rejects his bail plea
Times of India | 21 January 2026
Jalpaiguri: The Bengal govt on Tuesday removed Prasanta Barman as Rajganj BDO and posted the joint BDO of the same block, Sourav Kanti Mandal, in his place. The decision came within 24 hours of the Supreme Court rejecting Barman's anticipatory bail plea in a murder case and instructing him to surrender at Barasat court by Friday. Barman is absconding.
Barman is the prime accused in the murder of 48-year-old Swapan Kamila, a gold trader from Balasore in Odisha. Kamila went missing from Duttabad, Salt Lake on Oct 28 last year. The next morning, his bloodied body was recovered from the canal bank near Jatragachhi in New Town. Kamila's family members lodged a complaint of abduction and murder against Barman. They alleged that a few days before the murder, Barman came to the shop where he worked looking for him while it was closed. The reason given was that a gold bar, which was stolen from Barman's home by a domestic help, was sold at that shop. Kamila was then at his Dantan home and went back to Salt Lake on Oct 28.
The shop owner, Gobindo Bag, said Kamila bought stolen goods and the BDO came looking for him. Bag further claimed that Barman and his men picked him up and Kamila. While they dropped Bag at New Town, they took Kamila away. Kamila's mutilated body was recovered soon after. Meanwhile, several videos surfaced where Barman was spotted at Dantan, as Kamila's wife had claimed.
Barman, however, was not arrested and continued as the Rajganj BDO. He was granted anticipatory bail by the Barasat court, which Bidhannagar Police challenged in Calcutta High Court. The HC quashed the bail and instructed Barman to surrender within 72 hours. But Barman moved Supreme Court on Dec 23 seeking anticipatory bail. That very day, he went underground and is still missing.
Posted as the Rajganj BDO in late 2023, Barman faced multiple transfer orders in 2025, first to Kalimpong and later to North Dinajpur. But neither order took effect. It is also claimed that Barman cleared WBCS even scoring 0 in English.