Two cops suspended over murder of Kolkata teenagers, CID to probe case

The West Bengal government on Wednesday suspended the inspector in-charge and another officer of Baguiati police station, where a missing complaint was lodged by the parents of two boys who were later found murdered, state chief secretary HK Dwivedi said.

The case has been handed over to the state CID from Baguiati police station under Bidhannagar police commissionerate, the official said.

"The inspector in-charge of the Baguiati police station and the investigating officer, an assistant sub-inspector, have been suspended," Dwivedi told reporters at the state secretariat.

It was decided that a senior police officer would meet the families of the two deceased boys, the official said.

It was the birthday of one of the boys on Wednesday.

The commissioner of Bidhannagar police Supratim Sarkar visited the residences of the affected families in the evening.

State fire services minister Sujit Bose also went to the houses and spoke to family members of the two boys.

"Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked me to meet the families and to speak to them," Bose said.

The chief minister, who also holds the home (police) portfolio, is personally looking into the incident, Bose said.

"We want that the culprits are arrested as soon as possible and are awarded exemplary punishment," he said.

A CID team went to the affected families' residences and spoke to the members in the evening, an official said.

Earlier in the day, Urban Development minister Firhad Hakim had said that the inspector in-charge of the police station had been closed (taken off duty).

Stating that the chief minister is deeply hurt by the incident, Hakim said that she has asked the state DGP to ensure the arrest of the culprits and exemplary punishment of all involved in it.

Alleging that the local police had faltered in locating their children, the father of one of the two boys said that he wants a CBI investigation into the killing.

"I want the CBI to investigate the deaths as I do not have faith in the probe conducted by the local police," he said on Tuesday night.

Bharatiya Janata Party women's wing and the CPI(M) separately held protests in front of Baguiati police station on Wednesday morning alleging police inaction.

The two boys from Baguihati area had gone missing two weeks back and their bodies that lay unclaimed in the Basirhat Police district morgue in North 24 Parganas were identified on Tuesday.

The bodies had been lying at the Basirhat police district morgue for nearly two weeks.

While the body of one boy was found at Nazat, that of another was found in a different place within the same Basirhat police district in North 24 Parganas.

Bidhannagar is also situated within North 24 Parganas district.

Parents of the two 17-year old boys, who were close friends, had filed complaints at Baguiati police station after they went missing.

Four persons have been detained in connection with the incident, while a search is on to nab the main accused, an official said.

Briefing reporters on the deliberations at an administrative meeting chaired by the chief minister, Dwivedi said that a review has been done of the schemes run by the state government, including ‘Swasthya Sathi', ‘Lakshmi'r Bhandar', and ‘Krishak Bandhu'.

He said that prospects of setting up MSMEs and large industries in the state were also discussed at the meeting.

The chief secretary said that the state's achievement in reducing the debt-GSDP (gross state domestic product) ratio among the larger states between 2015-16 and 2020-21 also came up for discussion at the review meeting.

"It was 40 per cent in 2011 and has come down to 33 to 34 per cent," he said.

Dwivedi said that West Bengal is the only state, apart from Goa, to have reduced debt to GSDP ratio in the country.