After remaining on the run for nearly five years, a key accused in the 2021 post-poll violence and murder case of BJP worker Manik Maitra has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from Siliguri in West Bengal.
Shyamal Barman had been evading investigators ever since the case was handed over to the CBI. A reward of Rs 50,000 had been announced for information leading to his arrest.
The murder case is linked to the wave of violence that followed the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2021. Maitra was killed in Cooch Behar's Sitalkuchi area, following which a local police case was registered on May 5, 2021. Acting on the Calcutta High Court's directions, the CBI took over the investigation on August 27, 2021.
During the probe, the agency first filed a chargesheet against six accused persons in September 2021. Two supplementary chargesheets filed in 2022 named 18 more accused, taking the total number of chargesheeted persons to 24.
Despite repeated efforts, Barman remained untraceable and did not appear before investigators or the trial court. In February 2022, a court in Mathabhanga, Cooch Behar, declared him a proclaimed offender.
Following his arrest on Thursday, Barman was produced before a court in Siliguri, which remanded him to judicial custody.
The CBI said the investigation into the case is still underway.
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