- BJP leader Bikash Dhar found dead in Assam's Sribhumi district
- His body was recovered from an abandoned house near the Tripura border on Friday morning
- His family had filed a missing complaint after Dhar left home following a phone call on August 12
A 52-year-old BJP leader who had been missing for two days was found dead in Assam's Sribhumi district on Friday, with police alleging he had been murdered.
Bikash Dhar was a resident of Chagalmowa village under Bazaricherra police station. His body was recovered from an abandoned house in the Yogicherra area near the Tripura border on Friday morning.
Dhar's family had lodged a missing complaint on August 12 after he left home following a phone call.
"On August 12, at around 1 pm, my father suddenly went out after receiving a phone call. When we asked him, he said he had to attend an emergency meeting. After several hours, when my uncle called him, his phone was switched off. When he did not return, we started searching for him at around 10 pm and later filed a missing complaint at the police station," said the victim's son, Madan Dhar.
Speaking to reporters, Sribhumi Superintendent of Police Leena Doley said, "We have received a missing complaint on Bikash Dhar, who was missing from his home since August 12. We have started a probe under the Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime), who went to the victim's house and collected all the details".
She said five people were arrested for the murder.
"They have been identified as Abdul Salam, Sifat Ali, Abdul Ahad, Saiful Ali and Badrul Haque and from them, we got another person's name, Sunam Miya, who fled away to Tripura on the same night. During interrogation, Abdul Salam revealed that they had enmity with Bikash. They killed Bikash and dumped his body near a water body," she said.
The police found injury and cut marks on his body.
One of the accused sustained a bullet wound in the leg in an encounter with the police.
"We have got injury and cut marks on his body. It was definitely a murder case, and we have registered a murder case and arrested five persons. Our investigation has been going on. During the recovery of the weapon, one of the accused, Badrul Haque, tried to escape from police custody. During the encounter, one constable was injured. We tried to control him and fired at his leg to stop him from escaping," she added.
