In a significant development, the Calcutta High Court has overturned a lower court's decision and revoked the anticipatory bail granted to a Block Development Officer (BDO) accused in the brutal murder of a jewellery shop owner. The court has directed the official, Prasanta Burman, to surrender before the trial court within the next 72 hours.
Court's Stern Order and Observations
A single bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh delivered the ruling on Monday, setting aside the bail order passed by a Sessions Judge in the last week of November. The state government had challenged this bail in the High Court in the first week of December.
The court made strong observations, noting from the case diary that Burman is alleged to be the "mastermind" who played a lead role in the crime, leveraging his position as a government official. Justice Ghosh stated that the investigation revealed an eyewitness saw the victim being kidnapped and assaulted.
"The opposite party (Prasanta Burman) is a mastermind and took a lead role and used his government official background wherever necessary," the court recorded. It further highlighted that a blue beacon car was used to abduct the victim from his shop, and he was taken to the BDO's residence.
Details of the Gruesome Crime
The victim, 45-year-old Swapan Kamilya, was a small-time jeweller who operated from a rented shop in Salt Lake. His body was discovered in a desolate area of New Town on Kolkata's eastern outskirts on October 29. The post-mortem report shockingly revealed his body bore 32 wounds.
The sequence of events, as per the police complaint, began on October 28. Burman, along with several other men, allegedly arrived at Kamilya's shop in a car fitted with a blue beacon. They then abducted Kamilya and his landlord, Gobinda Bag. Bag was released later, but Kamilya was killed.
Motive and Investigation
The victim's wife informed the police that the BDO had previously visited the jewellery shop looking for Kamilya. The alleged motive was related to gold stolen from Burman's house. It is claimed that Burman's domestic help, Ashok Kar, had stolen the gold and sold it at Kamilya's shop.
Initially, Kamilya's family had filed a missing person's report after he disappeared from the Salt Lake Duttabad area. After his body was found, they lodged a formal police complaint specifically naming BDO Prasanta Burman. A case was subsequently registered at the Bidhannagar police station.
Justice Must Be Equal: HC's Firm Stand
The Calcutta High Court strongly criticised the lower court's bail order, calling it lacking in comprehensive reasoning and based on a perverse view of relevant materials. The bench emphatically stated that it would be a "travesty of justice" if Burman's accomplices remained in jail while he, a West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) officer, remained free on anticipatory bail.
With this order, the legal path has now been cleared for the investigating agencies to take the accused BDO into custody as the probe into this high-profile murder continues.
