Four months after the death in poll violence of BJP worker Abhijit Sarkar, the body was handed over to his family on Thursday. Sarkar was killed in post poll violence on May 2 in Kolkata’s Kankurgachi area.
Among the incidents of post poll violence, the death of Sarkar had triggered a political war of words between the BJP and Trinamool Congress. His family had refused to accept the body from the local police on grounds that they could not identify it. The family had also moved the court questioning the report of the first post-mortem. On July 2, the court had ordered a second autopsy.
The question of identity was also heard by a five-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, which ordered a DNA test to ascertain the identity of the body. The DNA test confirmed that those mortal remains were those of Sarkar. The family had earlier this week moved the Sealdah Court, which directed the hospital authorities to hand over remains to them.
Home guard slapped
Earlier in the day, BJP leader Debdutta Majhi allegedly slapped a home guard at the NRS Medical College and Hospital during a protest over the delay at the hospital morgue. While the Trinamool Congress leadership condemned the behaviour of Mr. Majhi, State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said, “The State government should have been slapped”.
“How inhuman can someone be. Instead of paying respects to someone who was killed, the police were delaying the handing over the body,” Mr. Ghosh said.
TMC leader and MLA Tapas Roy countered by saying that hitting a police officer is a criminal offence and instead of condemning this, State BJP president was encouraging it.
Sarkar’s remains were then taken to the State BJP headquarters in central Kolkata where senior party leaders, including Mr. Ghosh, offered their respects. The family members were seen arguing with the deployed police at least at two places in the city on way to the crematorium. Biswajit Sarkar, brother of the deceased BJP worker, said the police kept changing the route of the hearse and were misguiding the family members.
CBI case
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered a case into the death of Sarkar on August 25 after the High Court direction to probe incidents of murder and rape during post poll violence. The FIR lodged by CBI under Section 307 of IPC (attempt to murder) is based on the complaint of Madabi Sarkar, mother of the deceased. Hours before he was killed Sarkar had posted a video on social media saying that he feared for his life and that bombs were thrown at his house.
The CBI has so far registered more than 30 FIRs in connection with incidents of post poll violence and filed charge sheets in two cases.
