Kolkata, Sep 29 (IANS): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday arrested Proclaimed Offender (PO) Jharna Mistry from Ghoshpara, Santoshpur, South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, in the 2021 post-poll violence and murder case.
Jharna, wife of co-accused Sanjay Mistry, has been at large since registration of the FIR in 2021, and she never joined the investigation/trial in this post-poll violence case. The CBI had declared a cash reward of Rs 50,000 for her arrest.
In compliance with the Calcutta High Court order dated August 19, 2021, the CBI registered the instant case on August 27, 2021, by taking over FIR No. 345/2021 dated May 3, 2021, of Jagaddal Police Station, North 24 Parganas.
The FIR was registered based on the allegations of post-poll violence wherein Sova Rani Mondal, mother of complainant and BJP worker Kamal Mondal in Jagaddal constituency, was killed by the accused after the declaration of Assembly election results on May 2, 2021.
After investigation, the CBI filed a supplementary chargesheet on December 29, 2021 against a total of 13 accused persons, including Jharna Mistry.
As the accused was hiding and evading the process of trial, the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Barrackpore, North 24 Parganas District, declared her a Proclaimed Offender vide order dated October 3, 2023.
The arrested accused/PO is being produced before the Competent Court at Barrackpore, the CBI said.
In March 2023, the CBI announced a cash reward of Rs 50,000 for information on the accused in the murder case.
Though Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had claimed that there was no incident of post-poll violence in the state, an NHRC report had said that there were several cases of rape and murder after the announcement of Assembly election results in 2021.
Earlier, on January 28, 2023, the probe agency had announced a similar cash reward of Rs 50,000 for information in the murder case of BJP worker Abhijit Sarkar.
Sarkar was allegedly strangled to death with a television cable. He was the only BJP worker who died in the state capital in the post-poll violence.
Sarkar’s family had continuously alleged that the Kolkata Police was not investigating the matter properly and was not arresting the ‘Trinamool goons’ responsible for the murder, who are not only moving scot-free, but also threatening the family members.
Biswajit Sarkar, the elder brother of the victim, has filed petitions to probe Sarkar’s death before the Supreme Court and the Calcutta High Court.
