2 cops suspended; 2 more held for Jafrabad murders

Kolkata: Barely 48 hours before CM Mamata Banerjee's visit to Murshidabad, Bengal Police on Saturday suspended Shibo Prasad Ghosh, the former OC of Shamsherganj PS, and SI Md Jalaluddin Ahamed for "gross misconduct and dereliction of duty".Both Ghosh and Ahamed — officers of Jangipur Police District — were posted at Shamsherganj during the April 11-12 riots. Just a week after the violence, Ghosh was transferred."The officers were placed under suspension for their gross misconduct and dereliction of duty in terms of Rule No 880 & 881 of PRB, Vol-I, 1943 and Rule No 70 of WBSR Part-I in the interest of public service," an order stated. Earlier, the SPs of Murshidabad and Jangipur and OC Suti were also transferred.The suspensions came on a day the SIT and Bengal STF arrested two more accused "directly involved" in the April 12 Jafrabad father-son murder case.Md Iqbal and Md Nurul — residents of Sulitala in Shamsherganj, the village where most accused hail from — were arrested from Howrah station and Farakka PS area, respectively. Iqbal was held late on Friday after he got off a train from Odisha's Jagdalpur."Both the accused fled to other states after committing the crime. As per CCTV footage and statements of witnesses and other accused, they were directly involved in the murders of Haragobindo and Chandan Das. The duo had attacked the victims with sharp weapons, along with a few others. Md Nurul was named in the FIR lodged by the Das family," DIG (Murshidabad) Syed Waquar Raza said.The arrests bring the total number of suspects in custody to nine for the murders of 70-year-old Haragobindo and his 40-year-old son. The violence that erupted in Murshidabad on April 11-12 has resulted in 138 FIRs and over 320 arrests.ADG (law & order) Jawed Shamim said police were working to gather evidence for a timely charge sheet, while SIT sources indicated that at least four suspects were still absconding.The investigation gained momentum after the arrest of chief conspirator Ziaul from Chopra in North Dinajpur. This led to the identification of other key suspects, including Ajfarul Sheikh and Monirul Sheikh, who were held subsequently.