CID to Probe Death of 2 Teenagers Whose Bodies Were Dumped Near Kolkata; Mamata Slams Police for Negligence

Massive outrage has erupted in West Bengal after the bodies of two 17-year-old school students, who were missing for several days, were found in a roadside ditch near Kolkata and remained unidentified for nearly two weeks.

Minister Firhad Hakim said on Wednesday that the case will be handed over to the CID after expressing displeasure over the police investigation. “The incident of Baguiati is sad and the chief minister is unhappy. The Baguiati police station’s officer in charge should have consulted the CID. He has been removed now. Direction has been given to the DG to hand over this investigation to the CID,” said Hakim.

According to sources, Mamata Banerjee slammed the Bidhannagar Commissioner Supratim Sarkar during an administrative meeting at the Secretariat, and questioned why the police were negligent in the case.

The two teenagers, Atanu Dey and Abhishek Naskar, who were allegedly kidnapped from Baguiati area near Kolkata were found dead in Basanti, South 24 Parganas. The bodies were kept in a mortuary and it took 12 days for them to be identified.

The families say Rs 1 crore ransom had been demanded from them via SMS and they reported the matter to the police who didn’t take it seriously.

Authorities have arrested four people, but the main accused, Satyendra Chaudhuri, is still missing.

Khagendranath Mondal, Atanu’s uncle, said, “We want the chief minister to ensure punishment to the culprits. If the police had taken the right step, then we wouldn’t have had to receive a decomposed body.”

According to the Bidhannagar police, they were “treading cautiously”, because they were under the impression that the youngsters had been kidnapped.

It was only on Tuesday, after the police extracted a confession from one of the accused, Abhijit Ghosh, that they realised both victims had been murdered.

The families, on the other hand, said they spent several nights at the police station, trying to persuade the cops to act on the ransom SMS.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has also picked up the issue to hit out at the West Bengal government and police.

Biswajit Ghosh, deputy commissioner of detective department, Bidhannagar police, said, “Prima facie investigation has revealed that there was a dispute over Rs 50,000 which Satyendra had lent to Atanu for the purchase of a two-wheeler. We are looking at other possible murder motives.”

While Atanu was the target, Abhishek was killed by the culprits just to remove evidence, officials said.

The preliminary probe indicates that Satyendra was well known to Atanu’s family, they added.

“We were proceeding carefully in our investigation since there were ransom demands made,” said officials.

However, experts have pointed to the lack of coordination between the police in Bidhannagar and Basirhat. Although Basirhat police recovered the bodies on August 23 and 25, their colleagues in Bidhannager learnt about this only on September 5.

Police procedure says in case unidentified bodies are discovered, their photographs are circulated in the department in all districts, experts said. While according to Basirhat police the photos were passed around, the question then is why didn’t they come to the notice of Bidhannagar cops, they added.

If the kidnapping case of a minor is registered, the investigation needs to start within 24 hours, but that did not happen here, they said.

The alleged abduction took place on August 22 and a complaint was filed at Baguiati police station on the 24th. Why did the police lose vital time in investigating this crime and allowed the prime suspect to abscond, asked experts?

The director general of police has sought a report on the matter and the Baguiati thana incharge, who has been asked to stay away from the probe, may be penalised, News18 has learnt.

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