The prime accused in the Bogtui violence case of West Bengal's Birbhum district was found dead in CBI custody on Monday. CBI officials said, Lalan Sheikh, was found hanging at the agency's Rampurhat camp office in Birbhum. Officials suspected Sheikh died by suicide.
Sheikh, was arrested on December 4 from his hideout along the Bengal-Jharkhand border. News agency PTI quoted a CBI source as saying: "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."
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Nine people, including two children, were charred to death after nearly a dozen huts were set ablaze in Bogtui, Birbhum, in March this year. The arson was suspected to be have been in retaliation to the murder of a Trinamool Congress panchayat official named Bhadu Sheikh.
The CBI has informed the National Human Rights Commission and the local judiciary about Lalan Sheikh's death as per existing procedures, officials 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.
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