One of the prime accused in the Bogtui killings, Lalan Sheikh, was on Monday found dead in the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in West Bengal’s Birbhum district. Sheikh was arrested by the CBI on December 4 and has been in CBI custody since then.
He was kept in custody at a guest house of the CBI in Birbhum. According to sources in the agency, the accused was found at a “partial hanging” in a toilet of the guest house. The death of the accused in the CBI’s custody has triggered a huge political controversy, with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) raising questions over the role of Central investigating agencies. Sheikh’s family members alleged that the CBI had killed him.
The violence occurred in Bogtui on March 21 when, after the murder of Bhadu Sheikh, a local Trinamool functionary, a group of locals set several houses on fire. Ten persons died in the violence. The investigation was handed over to the CBI on the instructions of the Calcutta High Court on March 25.
Since then, the CBI has arrested a number of accused persons in the case, and on June 20, the agency filed a charge sheet against 16 accused persons in connection with the violence. According to the CBI, the violence in the village was a retaliatory act in response to the killing of TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh. The charge sheet also said that the violence was the result of “long standing rivalry in the village between two groups”.
The death of the accused in CBI custody, however, will have a political impact as Central agencies are dealing with several cases where key persons, including TMC leaders, are behind the bars.
