Victim’s wife held in Agartala newspaper office attack case

The probe into the murders at a vernacular newspaper office here took a new turn on Friday with the detention of the widow of one of the victims.

The police detained Niyoti Ghosh, wife of driver Balaram Ghosh who along with manager Ranjit Choudhury and proof reader Sujit Bhattacharjee was murdered in the Dainik Ganadoot building on May 19.

Senior police officers are tight-lipped on the detention , but sources said the decision to pick up the widow was taken after discrepancies were found in her statements.

This was the first detention in the sensational case which invited ire of the journalists and media rights organisations.

‘Pressure to go slow on probe’

Allegations were raised that influential quarters were putting pressure on the police to ‘go slow’ on investigation.

Ms. Niyoti Ghosh and her 13-year-old daughter witnessed the murder of Balaram Ghosh, the last victim repeatedly stabbed by two assailants who fled the scene on a motorbike. The family was housed in small quarters on the backside of the building.

Owner cum editor of the newspaper Sushil Choudhury was present in his room when assailants killed the the trio, but he denied that he saw anything or heard any noise.

The police questioned Mr. Choudhury a number of times.

On Thursday, senior police officers grilled him for three hours at the police headquarters. Sources said Ms. Niyoti Ghosh was being interrogated at an all-women police station in Agartala.

They added that Mr. Choudhury would again be called anytime for interrogation.