KalimNews, Kolkata, July 18, 2025 : In a significant development in the 2021 post-poll violence case involving the murder of BJP worker Avijit Sarkar, three members of the Kolkata Police — including a retired assistant commissioner, a currently serving inspector, and a home guard — were remanded to judicial custody on Friday by a city sessions court at Bichar Bhavan. Their bail pleas were rejected following a prolonged hearing, and they were sent to jail till July 31 after being directed to surrender before the court.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which took over the case in August 2021 following an order from the Calcutta High Court, filed its second supplementary chargesheet on June 30, 2025, naming 18 accused in total. Among those were former officer-in-charge of Narkeldanga police station Subhajit Sen, then-investigating officer Ratna Sarkar, and home guard Dipankar Debnath. All were summoned to appear in court on Friday. Of the 18, fifteen complied with the summons. Trinamool Congress MLA Paresh Pal and two councillors, Swapan Samaddar and Papiya Ghosh, did not appear, having secured interim protection from arrest from the High Court earlier in the week. The court has barred the CBI from taking coercive action against them until August 1.
During Friday’s proceedings, the court scrutinized the timeline of promotions in the police force, particularly that of Subhajit Sen. His lawyer confirmed he was promoted to Assistant Commissioner just 19 days after the murder of Avijit Sarkar, a fact that prompted the judge to remark critically on the matter, saying that any promotion is essentially a form of reward. “Although the charges are yet to be proved, the allegations bring to mind the phrase: ‘when the protector becomes the predator,’” a lawyer quoted the judge as saying.
The CBI revealed during the hearing that Avijit Sarkar’s brother, Biswajit Sarkar, had called the police for help while Avijit was being attacked, but no assistance was provided. The agency explained that additional names surfaced through witness testimonies during the course of its expanded investigation, which led the court to question why the accused were being named in a staggered manner. The court also took note of the overall delay and complexity in the unfolding of the investigation, which began four years ago.
Out of the fifteen accused who appeared before the court seeking bail, eleven were granted it. However, four — Subhajit Sen, Ratna Sarkar, Dipankar Debnath, and another co-accused, Sujata Dey — were denied bail and remanded in judicial custody. Sujata Dey is the wife of Arun Dey, a key accused who was arrested by the CBI weeks earlier.
Subhajit Sen retired from service in November 2024 as Assistant Commissioner, while Ratna Sarkar has since been promoted to the rank of Inspector. Debnath continues to serve as a home guard at Narkeldanga police station. The CBI’s chargesheet also includes Trinamool MLA Paresh Pal, representing the Beliaghata Assembly constituency, who has been accused of conspiring in the murder of Avijit Sarkar. He, along with the two councillors, has been directed by the court to appear before August 12.
This is the second major instance in less than a year where Kolkata Police personnel have been sent to jail in a CBI-investigated case. In 2024, during the RG Kar Medical College rape and murder case, the then officer-in-charge of Tala police station, Abhijit Mondal, was arrested but later granted bail due to procedural delays in chargesheet filing.
The 2021 murder of Avijit Sarkar, which occurred in the aftermath of the West Bengal Assembly election results, was one of the first recorded fatalities linked to political violence that erupted in various parts of the state. The continuing investigation, now spanning over four years and involving multiple chargesheets, remains a focal point in West Bengal’s political and legal landscape.
