Police on Monday arrested Alim Molla, the truck driver who allegedly hit the car of Bholanath Ghosh, a key witness in multiple cases being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation against Sheikh Shahjahan, on the Basanti Highway on December 10.

Ghosh was on the way to a Basirhat court for a hearing against Shahjahan when the "staged accident" took place, claiming the life of his son and his driver.

Ghosh alleged the accident was a carefully orchestrated attempt to eliminate him, a crucial witness in several CBI investigations related to alleged land grabbing and violence in Sandeshkhali, ahead of court proceedings.

Alim, a resident of Laugachi village under the Agarati gram panchayat in Sandeshkhali, was arrested from a hideout in the Shimultala area of Basanti in South 24-Parganas.

Police said he was a close aide of Shahjahan and the husband of local Trinamool Congress panchayat member Roshanara Biwi.

He is one of the eight named accused in Ghosh's FIR. Ghosh identified Alim as the main executor of the alleged plot. According to the police and Ghosh, Alim drove the 16-wheeled empty cargo truck that rammed Ghosh’s car, a Maruti Alto, which injured him and left his son Satyajit and driver Shahanur Molla dead.

With Alim’s arrest, the number of people in custody in the case has risen to five, all close to Shahjahan, the police said.

The arrest added momentum to the theory that the crash was part of a murder conspiracy, though senior police officers have so far refrained from making any official declaration on it.

Police sources said Alim was also wanted by the CBI in connection with the alleged attack on Enforcement Directorate team on January 5, 2024, when they went to conduct a raid at Shahjahan’s residence at Sarberia-Akunjipara in Sandeshkhali in connection with the ration scam. For the past 23 months, Alim remained on the run, the police said.

Alim was produced before the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court in Basirhat, which remanded him to nine days in police custody.

Investigators said they would examine whether the road accident was deliberately staged or accidental. “At the same time, it needs to be ascertained who hatched the conspiracy and assigned him to crush Bholanath Ghosh’s car in a bid to kill him,” a policeofficer said.

Hanshkhali verdict

An additional district and sessions judge’s court in Ranaghat on Monday found a Trinamool Congress leader, his son, and seven others guilty in a case relating to the gang rape and subsequent death of a Class IX minor girl in Hanshkhali in Nadia district that occurred inApril 2022.

The investigation in the case was conducted by the CBI following an order of Calcutta High Court. The court said it would pronounce the sentence on Tuesday.

Those convicted include Trinamool Congress leader Samarendra Gayali, his son Brajagopal Gayali aka Sohail, and seven others — Prabhakar Samaddar, Ranjit Mullick, Surajit Roy, Akash Baroi, Dipta Gayali, Pijush Kanti Bhakta, and AnshumanBagchi.

The court held the accused guilty under various sections of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), including provisions related to gang rape, criminal conspiracy, criminal intimidation, destruction and suppression of evidence, and snatching, along with Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences(Pocso) Act.

According to the prosecution’s case, on April 4, 2022, the minor girl attended a birthday party organised for Sohail Gayali. During the course of the party, she was gang-raped. She returned home in a critical condition and was bleeding profusely. She died the following day, April 5.

The girl’s parents stated that they were prevented by the accused and their associates from taking her toa hospital.

She was allegedly treated by a local unregistered medical practitioner before her condition deteriorated andshe died.

The prosecution further stated that after her death, the body was forcibly taken away by the accused and their associates and cremated at a local crematorium without a post-mortem examination or a death certificate. It was alleged that political influence was used to carry out the cremation and kerosene used to hasten the process, thereby destroying forensicevidence.