Charge sheet names Mukul Roy as accused

KOLKATA:Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national executive member Mukul Roy has been named in the charge sheet in the 2010 murder of three brothers - all of them Communist Party of India (Marxist) supporters in West Bengal’s Labhpur. Monirul Islam, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA who switched sides to BJP in June this year, has also been named.

The development follows the Calcutta high court order for re-investigation by one of the seven police officers who investigated the case. In her September order, justice Madhumati Mitra asked the police to file the charge sheet within three months.

Islam’s name, which had been dropped from the charge sheet in 2014, has reappeared while Roy has been named for the first time.

A brother of the victims had approached the high court in 2016, seeking a re-investigation. That charge sheet had dropped 22 names, including that of local MLA Monirul Islam, from the 54 named in the FIR.

“Roy has been accused of inciting others,” said an officer of Birbhum district police.

On June 3, 2010, five brothers were allegedly summoned to Islam’s residence for a discussion and were beaten up by the leader and his associates. Three of them, Dhanu Sheikh, Katun Sheikh and Turuk Sheikh, died. Jamal Sheikh and Sanowar Sheikh suffered serious injuries.

In 2009, Islam, a Forward Block MLA, joined Trinamool Congress (TMC) because of Roy. After being released from jail, he contested the 2011 elections on a TMC ticket and won. In 2014, he had stirred a controversy by claiming at a public rally that he killed the three brothers. This year, Islam joined BJP.

Meanwhile, Roy has lashed out at the Mamata Banerjee government, saying that if he was charged with creating provocation then Mamata should have been named the prime accused as she was responsible for creating the most provocation. “They are going all-out to stop me,” he said on Sunday.

Islam refused to comment without going through the charge sheet.