Tripura High Court Acquits Two in Bank Manager's Murder Case

The Tripura High Court has acquitted Sumit Chowdhury and Sumit Banik in the murder of Bodhisatwa Das, a bank manager who was killed in 2019. The court ruled that the provision of common intention did not apply, overturning the life sentences previously handed down.

A division bench of the Tripura High Court on Tuesday acquitted two persons, who were sentenced by a lower court to life term imprisonment for murdering a bank manager in 2019.

Bodhisatwa Das, the then branch manager of a nationalised bank in North Tripura, was stabbed to death on August 3, 2019, following a brawl between the bank official and four persons, who were having a drinking session on the roadside.

The District and Session court, West Tripura, found the four persons - Sumit Chowdhury, Sumit Banik, Sukanta Biswas and Omar Sharif - guilty and sentenced them to life term rigorous imprisonment in 2023.

Challenging the lower court's order, Sumit Chowdhury and Sumit Banik had approached the High Court of Tripura seeking reversal of the life sentence.

''The division bench headed by Justice T Amarnath Goud on Tuesday acquitted both petitioners of the murder charge on the ground that the provision of common intention for the crime did not match this particular incident,'' senior advocate Subrata Sarkar told reporters after the verdict.

The high court rejected the review petition of Omar Sharif earlier, Sunakta Das has not yet approached the high court challenging the lower court's verdict.