KOLKATA: The West Bengal Police have arrested three more persons in connection with the murder of TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh that sparked the retaliatory killing of eight people in Bagtoi village of Birbhum district.
The three accused identified as Shera Sheikh, Sanju Sheikh and Raja Sheikh were booked and arrested from different places in Malda, Rampurhat, and one from the Bengal-Jharkhand border, the circle inspector of Rampurhat informed The New Indian.
“Sanju is not related to the murder of Bhadu Sheikh anyway. Sanju’s home was set ablaze,” his aunt Sukhtara Bibi claimed.
The trio was produced before a court in Rampurhat on Wednesday which sent them to police custody for 10 days.
As per police sources, ten people are accused in Sheikh’s murder case. The police are looking for other absconding accused in the case.
Sheikh was killed on the night of March 21, sparking torching of at least 8 houses in the village which claimed eight lives including women and children a day after. The massacre had sparked fear and panic in the village and had resulted into exodus of several families who returned following police intervention after a week.
During her visit to Bagtoi village, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had, “Police didn’t reach the spot on time. This needs to be investigated.”
The Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), probing the massacre on the instructions of the Calcutta High Court, had collected samples from the village. A team of CBI officials also recorded statements of several people in the village.