Violence erupted in Baguiati in the north-eastern fringes of Kolkata on Tuesday following the murder of two teenagers. Angry locals held demonstrations, blocked roads in the area and ransacked the house of the prime accused .
The teenagers, Atanu De and Abhishek Naskar, went missing on August 22. A missing complaint was lodged at the Baguiati police station on August 24. While two unclaimed bodies were recovered by the police a few days after the youths went missing, it was only on September 5 that the police ascertained the identity of the deceased and informed the family members. The bodies were lying at a mortuary in Basirhat in North 24 Parganas district.
Family members of the boys alleged negligence and said they had been receiving extortion messages on their cell phones and had kept the police informed.
A senior official of the Bidhannagar Police Commisionerate said one of the accused Abhijit Bose had admitted that the boys were killed inside a car and the bodies were dumped in the canals along the Basanti Highway. According to the police, the prime accused in the case is Satyendra Chowdhury, known to the family members of the teenagers. He is on the run.
“Atanu had given ₹50,000 to Satyendra for buying a motorcycle. This is where the differences between the two started. Satyendra later asked for more money, which Atanu refused. On August 22, Satyendra called Atanu to say that he will buy his motorcycle. Atanu took Abhishek along with him and boarded a vehicle in which a few people were already there,” the police officer said. According to the police, both the school-going teenagers were strangled to death inside the vehicle and their bodies were dumped along the Basanti Highway.
A pall of gloom descended in the area where the teenagers lived. Representatives of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights visited their residence. The incident has raised questions on the law and order situation in the State, with the political parties in the Opposition targeting the State government.
