Woman's half-burnt body found in Tripura; 4 held

Agartala, Sep 20 (IANS) Tripura police on Saturday arrested four people and suspended a police officer in connection with the recovery of a half-burnt body of a woman in Tripura's Gomati district, officials said.

Superintendent of Police of Gomati district Kiran Kumar K said that four people were arrested in connection with the recovery of a half-burnt body of a woman on Saturday at Mirza in the Kakaraban police station area of the district.

"We have suspended Assistant Sub-Inspector Sanjay Sarkar for negligence of duties in the incident,” the district police chief told IANS on Saturday night.

Chief Minister Manik Saha, who holds the home portfolio, in a Facebook post on Saturday night said that a detailed enquiry has been ordered into the Mirza incident.

“All those involved in this heinous crime will be brought to justice as per the law. In this connection, four accused persons have been arrested,” Saha said.

Another police official said that the victim’s husband, Pankaj Sarkar, claimed five youths first assaulted his wife on Friday night, then poured petrol on her and set her on fire, after which she succumbed to her injuries.

The police officer said they have registered a case in the incident and added that they will get the postmortem examination report on Sunday and after that the case would be modified with a clear position of the case.

So far, the FIR was registered as an unnatural death, the official said, adding that the investigation has been going on along with the search to nab all the perpetrators.

“More sections under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 will be added based on information received during the investigation and the inquest report,” the official said.

The woman's husband alleged that one of the five accused is a nephew of a local BJP MLA. Before the Friday’s incident Pankaj Sarkar and his wife, mother of two children, went to Kakraban police station to lodge a complaint against three persons for threatening them and assaulted them while they were working in their shop at Mirza market on Thursday night over previous enmity.

Police refused to accept the complaint, he alleged. “We returned home and went to sleep separately as we often do. This morning, my wife's half-burnt body was found on a nearby road,” Sarkar alleged.

The local MLA could not be reached for a comment. The opposition Congress and the CPI (M) criticised the police over the incident, alleging that they were trying to shield the accused.

“Initially, the police did not register the complaint of Pankaj Sarkar and his wife. What is more worrying is that the couple was chased by the accused when they were returning home from the police station. It seems that the police are trying to shield the accused,” district Congress president Titan Paul alleged.

Locals said that the couple was also known as BJP members in the area. Leaders of the ruling BJP, opposition Congress and CPI (M) have visited the deceased’s residence and assured strict action, irrespective of rhe identify of the culprits.

--IANS

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