Sushmita Dhar

Twenty-four hours before the trial, the investigating officer of the Sushmita Dhar disappearance case has been transferred. Shib Shankar Mukherjee has been asked to join South 24-Parganas traffic police from Thursday.

Mukherjee, who was on the case since 1996, was handed the transfer letter around 7 pm on Wednesday. Attempts to contact him at home proved futile till 10.30 pm, when Mukherjee’s wife claimed he was yet to return.

The news of the transfer reached the Dhar address at Sarsuna late in the evening, when Sushmita’s sister Arpita called up Mukherjee to find out the developments in the case.

“He (Mukherjee) told me he was no longer on the case as he had been transferred. We are apprehensive about the outcome as he has been on the case all along,” Arpita said.

The news of the transfer, however, was not confirmed by director-general of police Shyamal Dutta. “It is not possible for me to keep track of all transfers at all levels,” he said.