Embarrassed by his involvement in the daylight killing of two teenage boys in Malda, the Trinamul Congress leadership on Monday suspended Englishbazar Trinamul panchayat samiti sabhapati Pabitra Roy. Mr Roy, who was booked on serious charges, including that of murder under Sections 302 and 326 of IPC and under Arms Act, was produced in Malda district court which sent him to three days’ police remand.
Mr Roy had on Sunday allegedly opened fire from inside his Bolero on a mob which was chasing his vehicle after it had rammed into a cyclist, injuring him. Ashim Mondal, 19, died on the spot while Rahul Paswan, 17, succumbed to his injuries while he was being taken to Kolkata.
At around 3.30 pm on Sunday, Roy was returning from a picnic when his car hit a cyclist in Kulipara More in the Baghbari area, about a kilometre from Malda town.
Mr Roy claimed that he had fired in self-defence. Cracking the whip, TMC suspended Mr Roy. Claiming he was not a party leader but only the head of a rural council, Trinamul Congress national spokesperson Derek O’Brien said: “The person who was accused of shooting has already been arrested and suspended from the party. We believe every one is equal before the law. That our party has zero tolerance for such issues was again proved by the swift action in the case.”
The public protest in Malda continued. Local people blocked the road. Even at Malda district court, large number of local residents had assembled shouting slogans againt Mr Roy who was brought under heavy police protection.
Meanwhile, in another incident, two youth were killed and two others injured in a bomb explosion in Malda’s Sujapur. They were making bombs in the plastic factory of a local TMC activist Liton Sheikh. Those killed were Hannan Sheikh and Faizul Sheikh.
