IAF case: Sambia booked for murder, bail plea turned down

Sambia was arrested from near his in-laws’ house at Beckbagan on Saturday night. Sources said during interrogation Sambia revealed that he took a bus to reach Kolaghat after the accident. From Kolaghat Railway Station he took a train to Ranchi. In Ranchi, where he stayed in a relative’s house for two days. His cellphones were not accessible as there is no proper network there. He returned to the city on Saturday as he set up a meeting with a lawyer at his in-laws’ residence. But acting on a tip-off, the police conducted a raid and arrested Sambia.

Though the police had earlier suspected that Sambia was driving the Audi that hit the officer of the Indian Air Force Corporal Abhimanyu Gaud on Red Road, police mentioned in a report – which it had placed before the court – that “the car was being driven by an unknown person.” Sources in  the police said said that in the eighth line of the first page of the report, the police have stated that the Audi was being driven by an unknown person and in the last paragraph of the same page it has been mentioned that according to the statement of Sambia, “he was sitting on the rear seat of the car with some others”.

Sambia has been booked under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on charges of attempting to commit murder, destroying evidence, criminal conspiracy and helping accused to flee.  

However, there were several inconsistencies in his statement during interrogation, sources said. In a new twist to the entire episode, Johny, a friend of Sambia, sent a video footage from his hideout. In the video footage, he claimed that Sambia was driving the Audi and it was not their friend Sanu. 

The police are, however, clueless on why Sambia’s father Md Sohrab had fled and is still at large. “He has not committed any crime, then why he is absconding?” a senior police officer wondered. Md Sohrab, whose son is accused of killing the IAF  officer, does not have any connection with the Trinamul Congress (TMC), police investigation confirmed.

On Sunday, Supratim Sarkar, joint commissioner of police, said that investigation has revealed that Sohrab, who is a former RJD MLA, was in no way related to the TMC.