The West Bengal Police Special Task Force may take over the investigation into the Samserganj encounter in which prime accused Samaul Sheikh was shot dead, according to a report by the Times of India. The proposed transfer remains unconfirmed in the supplied report, while the release of Sheikh’s body was delayed after the post-mortem because a forensic expert was not available at Jangipur Superspeciality Hospital.
The Criminal Investigation Department, whose officers were involved in the operation, may hand over the probe to the STF. The report does not identify an official order or statement confirming that the transfer has been approved. The uncertainty places the investigation alongside wider questions over how an encounter involving officers connected to the existing probe will be examined.
Sheikh’s brother, Amaul Sheikh, and seven others from Ghoraipara village in Farakka reached the hospital at about 10am to receive the body after the post-mortem. The administration later decided to shift the body to Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital in Behrampore.
“We have nothing to say. We just want the body as early as possible so that we can complete the last rituals at our local graveyard,” Amaul said, according to the report. Safikul Islam, who accompanied the family, said he did not know what had happened and had come after neighbours told him to receive the body.
Sheikh’s wife, Rajeda Khatun, questioned the police action and sought compensation from the government. She said her husband was an accused person whose crime had not been proved and asked how she would educate their eight-year-old son and five-year-old daughter while caring for her aged in-laws.
The encounter followed the investigation into the murder of Sujit Mondal, a BJP worker who had been missing since August 28. Police recovered his severed limbs from the Feeder Canal on September 4 after the accused allegedly confessed to dismembering his body, the report said. Mondal’s family had alleged that a ransom of Rs 5 lakh was demanded over the phone.
During crime-scene reconstruction in Dhulian on Tuesday, Sheikh allegedly attempted to escape after snatching a service revolver from a deputy superintendent of police. A policeman opened fire, hitting him twice. Sheikh was declared brought dead at Anupnagar Block Primary Health Centre.
Mondal’s father, Dulu Mondal, said the family was relieved by Sheikh’s death but questioned why police action had not come earlier. He said Mondal was the only earning member of the family and had left behind a six-year-old son and a three-year-old daughter.
The next formal step is whether the proposed transfer to the West Bengal STF is officially approved and how the authorities address the families’ competing demands for accountability, compensation and the timely release of the body.
