District TMC leader found dead, body recovered from septic tank

Kolkata: Mystery shrouds the death of a district Trinamool Congress leader whose body was found inside the septic tank of a factory with several injuries on his body.

So far three persons have been arrested in connection with the incident. Police suspect that he might have been murdered.

The incident took place in Madhyamgram in North 24-Parganas on Sunday morning. The incident triggered tension among the locals. The victim has been identified as Sudhir Das (52), who had been the president for Trinamool Congress at ward number 1 under Madhyamgram municipality. The factory is situated in Digberia area of Madhyamgram.

It was learnt that the victim used to work as a security guard at the local factory. He had been missing since Saturday afternoon. The family members of the victim told the police that he went to work on Saturday morning. Unlike other days, he did not come home to have his lunch in the afternoon.

The family members thought he might have been busy at his work and hence unable to come home. As he did not return home after his work hours, the family members started a search operation in the nearby area and informed the relatives. After failing to get any trace of the victim, his family members registered a missing dairy at the local police station.

On the basis of the complaint, police started a search.

They carried out a search inside the factory and finally spotted his body inside the septic tank.

Police found several deep injury marks on his body as well as his head, which suggest that he might have been hit with a heavy substance before being pushed into the septic tank, police suspect.

The body was recovered at around 5 am on Sunday. According to the preliminary investigation, police suspect that he might have been murdered following rivalry.

They are yet to ascertain the real motive behind the murder. The investigators are looking into the CCTV footages of the factory.

The district police have started a detailed probe into the incident. After examining the CCTV footages, police have found out that the victim was sitting near the septic tank on Sunday afternoon when an unidentified man entered the factory with his face covered with a cloth.

The suspected accused came out of the factory after 50 minutes.

According to a senior police officer in the district, the victim had deep head injuries, suggesting that someone had hit him with a heavy substance.

Four persons including another security guard of the factory have been arrested in this connection so far.

Rathin Ghosh, Chairman of Madyamgram municipality and also the local MLA called the incident unfortunate and assured that the assailants would be arrested soon. Stringent action would be taken against those who have committed the crime, he said.