Ten people, including an aide of former Trinamool Congress strongman Sheikh Shahjahan, who is now in custody, were arrested by the CBI in connection with a seven-year-old case for the killing of three BJP functionaries at Sandeshkhali in North 24-Parganas.
Among those arrested on Tuesday is Kader Molla, said to be one of Shahjahan’s closest associates in Sandeshkhali, according to CBI sources.
After the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, BJP functionaries Debdas Mondal, Pradip Mondal and Sukanta Mandal were killed at Nazat in North 24-Parganas.
According to the investigators, clashes broke out between supporters of the Trinamool and the BJP over hoisting party flags in the area. During the violence, the three BJP supporters were allegedly hacked to death.
CBI officials suspect the attack was orchestrated by Shahjahan, who is now lodged in jail in connection with multiple cases, including a January 2024 attack on officials of the Enforcement Directorate in Sandeshkhali.
The case was initially investigated by the CID of Bengal Police, which also filed a chargesheet.
However, the victims’ families alleged that several names — including Shahjahan and 27 others — had been deliberately omitted from the chargesheet. They subsequently moved Calcutta High Court seeking a central agency probe. Acting on the plea, the high court had handed over the investigation to the CBI.
Officials said the 10 arrested had been on the run
since the agency took over the case. The family members of one of the deceased, Pradip Mondal, had alleged that after hacking him to death, the assailants had chopped the body into pieces and thrown them in a water body.
All the arrested accused have been charged with murder and causing the disappearance of evidence, sources in the central agency said.