Trinamool Congress turncoat, and West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, was granted protection from arrest from the Calcutta High Court on Monday, 6 September, in a 2018 case involving a death of a security staff member by gunshot wound.
The court in its observation said that Adhikari could not be arrested in the existing and future cases without its approval, reported NDTV.
Subhabrata Chakraborty, the security staff member, allegedly killed himself in a police barrack in Purba Medinipur's Contai in 2018. As a state armed police personnel, Chakraborty was part of the Adhikari's security team who was then a Trinamool Congress MP.
The former TMC leader was also summoned by the Criminal Investigation Department in the same investigation on Monday but failed to appear. According to an IANS report, a senior CID officer said that the agency is likely to issue fresh summons against the BJP leader.
"His statement is very crucial for the investigation and it is impossible to come to any conclusion in this case without his statement. So there is a possibility that the CID will again issue a summons,” said a senior CID officer
The case took a significant turn when, in July this year, after Adhikari switched camp and joined BJP. Chakraborty wife, Suparna, had lodged a complaint with Kanthi police station demanding a probe into her husband's death.
Suparna, told the investigators that her husband has not committed suicide and "it was clear case of murder".
A fresh probe was launched by West Bengal Police after registering the case under sections 302 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code against unknown persons. CID took over the investigation soon after.
As a part of the investigation, a four-member CID team had raided Suvendhu Adhikari's residence in Purba Medinipur in July. The CID officials had reportedly arrived at the Nandigram MLA's house after interrogating and gathering information from the former co-workers of Shubhabrata Chakraborty.
(With inputs from IANS, NDTV)
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