On April 3, a man identified as Manoj Ghosh killed Utpal Ghosh during a scuffle in village Santoshpur of Galsi in district Eastern Burdwan, West Bengal. Reports suggest they had mutual enmity. On Sunday, Manoj had gone to Utpal’s house and taken him for some work. Later, Utpal’s dead body was found on the road with an axe on the side. This led to eruption of violation in the village.
Soon after the incident, the Police detained five people, including Manoj. He confessed to the murder, after which he was formally arrested by the Police. Reportedly Manoj and Utpal had got into an argument, during which Manoj picked up an axe and killed Utpal.
Utpal’s body was sent for post-mortem by the Police. When the dead body arrived at the village on Monday, the villagers got agitated and attacked the houses of Manoj, his uncles Khetranath Ghosh and Haradhan Ghosh. They also burnt down straw outside their houses. The vehicles parked around the houses were also burnt by the agitated crowd.
It is notable that Police were already present at the scene when the incident took place. However, they could not control the crowd. After the agitation and violence, companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF) were deployed to maintain law and order.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Kamnasheesh Sen said in a statement that they had arrested Manoj Ghosh on the charges of murder. The Police also arrested several people involved in violence. He assured all the culprits would be caught soon. So far, 39 people have been arrested in the violence and arson case. Reports suggest many villagers ran away to escape arrest and the possibility of arson.
Utpal’s wife accused Manoj of harassment
A report on Hindi Daily Jagran quoted the wife of the deceased who accused Manoj of harassment. She said Manoj often approached her with bad intentions. Calling him characterless, she added if he found her alone in the house, he would start banging on the door and throw stones inside. Police had arrested Manoj before, but he was let go. She also accused Manoj’s father Kartik Ghosh and his mother of Utpal’s murder and demanded they should be thrown out of the village. She urged the administration to award capital punishment to Manoj.
Forensic team investigating the crime scene
On Tuesday, the forensic team reached Santoshpur to collect evidence. CID inspector Shaival Bagchi and three other officers were in the team. They also examined the axe used to kill Utpal.
Birbhum massacre
West Bengal has seen multiple incidents of violence in the last month. One of the notable incidents was of Birbhum. On March 22, late at night, a group of enraged miscreants set ablaze around 12 homes which resulted in the gruesome death of eight people, including women and innocent children in Birbhum’s Rampurhat. The autopsy report of the burnt bodies shows that the people were beaten before they were locked in their homes before the houses were set on fire. The massacre had taken place in retaliation for the alleged murder of a TMC leader.
