The West Bengal Police on Friday arrested Satyendra Chowdhury, the prime accused in the abduction and murder of two teenagers at Baguiati. The accused was arrested from the vicinity of Howrah Railway Station and was produced before a city court which remanded him to 14 days of police custody. What has surprised investigators is that the accused had managed to trick investigators by spending the night at the busy Howrah station.
The murder of two youths had created an outrage with questions being raised over the role of the police. The officer-in- charge of the police station and Investigating Officer were suspended and the investigation was handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
The teenagers, Atanu De and Abhishek Naskar, went missing on August 22. A missing complaint was lodged at the Baguiati Police Station on August 24. While two unclaimed bodies were recovered by the police a few days after the youths went missing, it was only on September 5 that the police ascertained the identity of the deceased and informed the family members. The bodies were lying at a mortuary in Basirhat in North 24 Parganas district. After the incident came to light, Opposition parties targeted the State government over the issue of police negligence. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had also expressed displeasure on the role of the police and directed them to arrest the prime accused in seven days.
According to the police, Satyendra Chowdhury had taken ₹50,000 from Atanu De on the promise of buying him a motorcycle. The accused asked for more money which the teenager refused. On August 22, Satyendra Chowdhury took De and Naskar in a vehicle on the pretext of buying a motorcycle, killed them in the vehicle along with the help of others and threw their bodies in the canals of North 24 Parganas.
With the arrest of the prime accused, the family members of both teenagers demanded exemplary punishment for him. Three more persons have been arrested in connection with the crime.
