Kolkata, June 26 (IANS) The West Bengal government has finally changed the public prosecutor (PP) in the minor Tamanna Khatun murder case following requests from the family, said officials on Friday.

The earlier PP in the case, Subedi Sanyal, has been replaced by Bivas Chattopadhyay, a public prosecutor with a sustained track record of ensuring speedy conviction of the accused in such cases.

An insider from the state secretariat of Nabanna said that Chattopadhyay has been given charge of prosecution in the case following the request of the victim’s mother, Sabina Iyasmin Sheikh.

“In fact, she had requested the previous Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, a number of times to appoint Bivas Chattopadhyay as the PP in the case. She had also given a written request on this count to the previous Chief Minister. But for some reason or another, her request was not honoured,” the state government official said.

However, he added that earlier this week, Sheikh met the new Chief Minister, Suvendu Adhikari and pleaded for speedy justice in the case. “During the meeting with the Chief Minister, the victim’s mother reiterated her plea for changing the erstwhile PP with Bivas Chattopadhyay. The Chief Minister agreed, gave the necessary instruction, and finally Chattopadhyay has been given the charge of prosecution in the case,” the state government official said.

Tamanna’s mother expressed gratitude to Chief Minister Adhikari, first for ensuring the arrest of five long-absconding accused persons in the case immediately after she met him and also for accepting her plea for appointing Chattopadhyay as the PP.

To recall, the minor girl from Kaliganj in Nadia district, who belonged to a family of CPI(M) supporters, was killed in a blast on June 23 last year.

On that day, the result of the bypoll to the Kaliganj Assembly Constituency had been announced, which marked a landslide victory for the then Trinamool Congress candidate Alifa Ahmed.

Some Trinamool Congress activists reportedly hurled crude bombs at the residence of the minor girl during a victory procession, killing Tamanna Khatun on the spot.

Tamanna’s mother, Sabina Iyasmin Sheikh, contested as a CPI(M) candidate from Kaliganj in the recently-concluded West Bengal Assembly polls, but was defeated by Trinamool Congress’ Alifa Ahmed, who was elected for the second consecutive term.

–IANS

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