Dainik Ganadoot editor-cum-owner Sushil Choudhury has emerged as the sole accused in the murder of three employees on the premises of the Bengali daily in Agartala on May 19.
Police claimed in the charge sheet submitted to a court on Thursday that no ‘outsider’ was involved in the murders of newspaper manager Ranjit Choudhury, proof reader Sujit Bhattacharjee and driver Balaram Ghosh, inside the office at Palace Compound.
Investigating Officer Manash Paul submitted the charge sheet to the West Tripura Chief Judicial Magistrate. The charge sheet held Sushil Choudhury accused under sections 302 and 120(B) of IPC and sought his custodial trial.
The 74-year-old editor who had the rare opportunity to travel with several Presidents and Prime Ministers on their foreign trips is currently lodged in jail after a brief police remand since his arrest on June 7.
The Tripura High Court last week turned down his bail plea with a directiveto the police to complete the investigation at the earliest.
It alleged that the editor’s involvement in nefarious activities, including brokering land deals, was known to the manager.
A few days before the murder, Ranjit is said to have threatened the editor and reveal his involvement in shady activities.
The charge sheet claimed that the editor conspired with driver Balaram to kill Ranjit. The duo strangled and stabbed him during their lunch break on Sunday.
Proof reader Sujit Bhattacharjee, on hearing the noise, rushed towards Ranjit’s office on the first floor when he was confronted by a knife-wielding Balaram. Both of them engaged in a fierce scuffle and stabbed each other.
The charge sheet further claimed that Balaram’s wife Niyoti, and his 13-year-old daughter, witnessed this. They rushed to the editor for help, but to no avail. Sushil was also accused of not calling for medical support immediately. This delay resulted in excessive bleeding and the subsequent deaths of the proof reader and the driver.
Niyoti is in jail for giving fabricated statements in an attempt to save Sushil. She is also charged with planting the story that two outsiders were responsible for the killings.
