Guwahati, Aug 6 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested proclaimed offender Arup Das, alias Bapi Das, from Guwahati in connection with the murder of Avijit Sarkar during the 2021 post-poll violence in West Bengal, officials said.
According to the CBI, the accused had been absconding since the registration of the case in 2021 and had neither joined the investigation nor appeared before the trial court.
The central agency had announced a cash reward of Rs 50,000 for information leading to his arrest.
he CBI said the accused was traced and apprehended in Guwahati based on human intelligence and technical inputs developed by the investigating team.
The case pertains to the alleged murder of Avijit Sarkar on May 2, 2021, at Sitalatala Lane in Kolkata amid widespread violence reported after the declaration of the West Bengal Assembly election results.
The probe was taken over by the CBI following an order of the Calcutta High Court dated August 19, 2021.
Subsequently, the agency registered the case on August 25, 2021, after taking over Narkeldanga Police Station registering an FIR in the case.
After the investigation, the CBI filed a charge sheet and supplementary charge sheets in 2021 and 2025 against 38 accused persons under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
Among those charge sheeted are Arup Das alias Bapi Das, former Trinamool Congress MLA Paresh Pal, and fomer Trinamool Congress Councillors Swapan Samaddar and Papiya Ghosh.
The case is currently under trial before the City Sessions Court in Kolkata.
The investigating agency said the accused would be brought to Kolkata and produced before the competent court on Friday.
The Avijit Sarkar murder case is among several cases linked to the 2021 post-poll violence in West Bengal that were transferred to the CBI by the Calcutta High Court for an independent investigation following allegations of politically motivated attacks and inadequate local police action.
–IANS
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