Kolkata, Jan 20 (IANS) The Supreme Court has directed the Rajganj Block Development Officer (BDO) Prashant Barman to surrender in connection with the case of the abduction and murder of gold merchant Swapan Kamilya at Salt Lake’s Dattabad in Kolkata.
Within 24 hours of the apex court’s order, Prashant Barman was removed from his post as the Rajganj BDO in Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal.
At the same time, the West Bengal government on Tuesday appointed Saurav Kanti Mandal as the new Rajganj BDO. He had previously served as the Joint BDO of Rajganj.
On Tuesday, local Trinamool Congress MLA Khageshwar Roy felicitated the newly appointed Rajganj BDO. He expressed hope that work in the Rajganj block would now gain momentum.
The Trinamool MLA said, “The stalled administrative work will now pick up pace. The common people will benefit. The developmental work for the common people had been held up.”
On October 29 last year, the body of gold merchant Swapan Kamilya was recovered from Jatragachi in New Town near Kolkata.
Based on the complaint by the deceased victim’s family, the police has so far arrested five people.
Rajganj BDO Prashant Barman’a name was also linked to this case.
Bidhannagar Police said that Prashant Barman is the ‘main accused’ in the incident.
However, the former Rajganj BDO went into hiding after his name was implicated in the gold merchant’s murder case.
The Opposition BJP claimed that despite Prashant Barman’s name being linked to the murder case, the West Bengal government did not take any action against him.
However, following the Supreme Court’s order, the Rajganj BDO was hastily replaced.
To avoid arrest, Prashant Barman repeatedly approached the courts.
First, he applied for an anticipatory bail in the Barasat court in North 24 Parganas district which was granted.
Following this, the Bidhannagar Police challenged the Barasat court’s order in the Calcutta High Court.
The Calcutta High Court asked why Prashant Barman was granted anticipatory bail.
In the end, the Calcutta High Court overturned the Barasat court’s order.
Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, while rejecting the anticipatory bail, directed that Prashant Barman must surrender to the lower court within 72 hours.
However, Prashant Barman did not surrender even after that time.
Following this, the police approached the Bidhannagar court against Prashant Barman and an arrest warrant was issued.
However, Prashant Barman challenged the Calcutta High Court’s order in the Supreme Court.
However, Prashant Barman did not find relief even in the Supreme Court.
On Monday, the apex court said that he must surrender to the lower court by Friday.
However, the bench of Justices Rajesh Bindal and Vijay Bishnoi also said that Prashant Barman can apply for bail after surrendering.
The Supreme Court also said that the police can oppose the bail application in the lower court and request custody if necessary for the investigation.
Within 24 hours of the apex court’s order, Prashant Barman was removed from his post as the BDO.
–IANS
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