Kolkata, Dec 25 Rajganj Block Development Officer (BDO) Prashant Barman has now approached the Supreme Court, challenging the Calcutta High Court's order, which cancelled his anticipatory bail in the murder case of a gold trader in Salt Lake's Duttabad area.
On Monday, the Calcutta High Court rejected his anticipatory bail application, which was granted to him by a lower court, and ordered him to surrender within 72 hours.
The BDO challenged this order in the Supreme Court yesterday, sources said on Thursday.
The Supreme Court is currently on Christmas vacation and will reopen on January 5. However, a vacation bench will be functioning during this period.
Meanwhile, the High Court's deadline for Prashant Barman's surrender expires today. In this situation, the BDO's appeal to the Supreme Court is expected to give a new twist to the case of the abduction and murder of the gold trader in Dattabad.
The family of the murdered gold trader, Swapan Kamilya, had filed a complaint against BDO Prashant Barman.
During the investigation, the police obtained several pieces of information indicating the BDO's involvement in the incident. Several individuals close to the BDO were arrested.
However, the investigators faced considerable difficulty in arresting the Rajganj BDO. Meanwhile, Prashant Barman applied for anticipatory bail in the Barasat court last month, denying all the allegations.
The lower court had granted the application. He later appeared before the Bidhannagar Sub-divisional court to formalise the bail.
Following this, the Biddhannagar Police had approached the Calcutta High Court, challenging the lower court's order. They appealed for the cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to the accused BDO.
During the hearing, the Calcutta High Court severely criticised the lower court's order. The high court observed that the lower court (Barasat Court) had failed to consider any of the factors it should have considered when granting bail or anticipatory bail in a murder case.
It was of the view that the lower court had granted bail by disregarding serious and crucial evidence.
--IANS
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