Police claimed to have solved the mystery over gruesome murder of three employees at local daily Dainik Ganadoot with the arrest of its editor-cum-owner, Sushil Choudhury (74) on Friday afternoon. Two assailants stabbed to death manager Ranjit Choudhury, proofreader Sujit Bhattacharjee and driver Balaram Ghosh at the Ganadoot premises on May 19.
Mr. Choudhury has been charged under Section 302/34 of the Indian Penal Code for abetting murderers. He is in custody at West Agartala police station.
Mr. Choudhury had the rare chance to accompany Presidents and Prime Ministers during their foreign trips. He recently authored a book on his journeys. Police said they would press for his remand when produced in the court on Saturday to get more information from him. However, there has been criticism for not slapping Section 120(B) (conspiracy part) against Mr. Choudhury. “Police can add this section later. The investigation into the killings has so far been very slow,” lawyer Arun Chandra Bhowmik told
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“The Ganadoot incident was a rarest of rare case. The abettors and the killers should be awarded death sentence if their involvement in the crime is established,” Mr. Bhowmik added.
Police earlier arrested Niyoti Ghosh, wife of slain Balaram Ghosh, who along with her 13-year-old daughter witnessed the murders, on accusation of discrepancies in her statements. A court on Friday sent her to two weeks judicial custody ending her eight-day remand in police custody.
Mr. Choudhury had earlier claimed that he was the main target of broad daylight raid in his office, but made contradictory statements thereafter.
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Police said illegal land deal, smuggling and enmity over moral turpitude involving a few individuals are linked to the murders.
Senior politician and leader of newly floated Tripura Pragatishil Gramin Congress, Subal Bhowmik, said people were not happy with the police investigation and demanded “a CBI probe.”