West Bengal: Bogtui killings prime accused found dead in CBI custody

We have informed the police and all necessary procedures are being followed, the CBI source told PTI.The agency has informed the National Human Rights Commission and judiciary in accordance with the laid down procedure, officials here said.At least 10 people were killed in the arson and violence in Bogtui that followed the murder of local TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh on March 21.

In a suspected case of suicide, the prime accused in the violence in Bogtui village of West Bengal's Birbhum district was found dead in CBI custody on Monday, officials said.

Lalan Sheikh, who was arrested on December 4 from a hideout along the Bengal-Jharkhand border, was ''found hanging'' in the agency's Rampurhat camp office in Birbhum, a source in the Central Bureau of Investigation said.

''The body of the prime accused in the Bogtui violence was found hanging in the washroom of the guest house, where we have set up our temporary camp, at around 4:30 pm. We have informed the police and all necessary procedures are being followed,'' the CBI source told PTI.

The agency has informed the National Human Rights Commission and judiciary in accordance with the laid down procedure, officials here said.

At least 10 people were killed in the arson and violence in Bogtui that followed the murder of local TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh on March 21. The CBI is probing the case on the orders of the Calcutta High Court.

In its charge sheets filed in the cases linked to the Bogtui violence and arson, the federal probe agency has alleged that it was a ''direct fallout'' of Sheikh's killing.

It has been alleged that after Sheikh was killed, his loyalists and group members, armed with sharp weapons, crude bombs and country-made firearms, went on a rampage burning the houses of rivals in the village.

The CBI has alleged the rivalry between groups of the deceased, Palash Sheikh and Sona Sheikh for dominance in the area and control over the income from illegal collection of money from commercial vehicles and other unlawful activities had existed for a long time.