The prime accused in the Canning triple murder in South 24 Parganas, who has been absconding since the murder of Trinamool’s Gopalpur Panchayat member Swapan Ghosh and his close aides Bhutnath Pramanik and Jhantu Halder on July 7, was arrested in Kozhikode in Kerala, a Bengal Police officer said on Friday.
The officer said Rafikul Sardar (40) would be brought to Bengal on transit remand and they would produce him in a court, seeking his custody for the interrogation.
Divulging details, police said that they had received information that Sardar was working as a mason at a construction site in Kozhikode, following which they confirmed his mobile location and a Bengal Police team went to Kozhikode and arrested him. Police claimed that Sardar had “confessed” his crime.
On the morning of July 7, Swapan Ghosh and Bhutnath Pramanik and Jhantu Halder were on their way to a nearby party office to attend a meeting astride a motorcycle when a group of six assailants stopped them near Kochua Pear Park and shot them from a close range, said police, adding that the assailants then slit their throats to ensure their death.
A case was registered against six people, including Sardar, in connection with the murder, said police, adding that Sardar’s nephew Murselin Mollah has already been arrested. Police suspect the target was Ghosh, due to personal enmity, while his aides were killed because they were eyewitnesses to Ghosh’s murder.
