Kolkata: In a gruesome incident in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, a 36-year-old man was allegedly murdered, his body dismembered, and dumped in a canal after he was called to submit documents related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Police said on Saturday that a Booth Level Officer (BLO) and another individual have been arrested in connection with the crime, which took place in Baduria. Parts of the victim’s body were recovered Friday night from a canal following interrogation of the accused and extensive search operations. However, the victim’s head is yet to be found.
The deceased youth has been identified as Nasir Ali (36), a resident of Papila in Baduria.
According to the police, the arrested BLO has been identified as Rizwan Hasan Mandal alias Montu. He is the BLO of booth number 22 in Papila of the Baduria area. Another accused, Sagar Gain, has also been taken into custody.
Nasir had been missing since the evening of February 9. His family said he received a phone call that evening from a person who introduced himself as an Assistant Returning Officer (ARO), asking him to meet the BLO urgently with photocopies of his Aadhaar and voter identity cards for SIR-related purposes.
After receiving the call, Nasir left home but did not return. When family members tried contacting him, his phone was found switched off. A missing person complaint was subsequently lodged at the Baduria police station.
The following day, Nasir’s motorcycle and shoes were recovered from a canal in the Chatra area, but there was no trace of him. As the investigation progressed, police arrested Rizwan and Sagar Gain. Both were produced before the Basirhat Sub-Divisional Court, which remanded them to five days of police custody.
During interrogation, police conducted searches under various bridges and along canals in the Baduria area, leading to the recovery of Nasir’s body parts packed in three separate bags from a canal. The motive behind the brutal murder is yet to be ascertained.
Nasir’s wife, Beauty Khatun Bibi, told local reporters that her husband had no known enmity with anyone. “Rizwan was my husband’s friend. I knew him as a friend of my husband. I want strict punishment for those who subjected him to such brutal torture,” she said.
Police said further investigation is underway to determine the motive and recover the remaining body parts.
(IANS)
