Kolkata, May 27 (IANS) West Bengal Minister Dilip Ghosh on Wednesday lashed out at a section of the state police after Prashant Barman, the former BDO of Raiganj Block in North Dinajpur district, who is an accused in the abduction-murder of gold merchant Swapan Kamilya, was granted bail by a district court.

Barman had been absconding since last year and secured bail on Tuesday night as the investigating officers failed to furnish the necessary documents related to the abduction-cum-murder case to the court.

He was produced before a district court in North 24 Parganas district on Tuesday afternoon with two separate charges against him, the first in relation to drunk driving and the second in relation to the abduction-murder case.

However, though the judge of the district court waited for several hours, the investigating officers were unable to furnish the necessary documents related to the abduction-cum-murder case within the stipulated period.

Finally, Barman was granted bail by the district court judge in the drunk-driving case, on a personal bond of Rs 1,000.

Speaking to the media persons on Wednesday, Minister Ghosh, the former national vice-president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and also the former state president of the party in West Bengal, said that despite the change of regime in West Bengal, the nature of a section of the state police has not changed which was evident from the bail granted to Burman just because the investigating officers failed to furnish the documents related to abduction-cum murder case to the court in time.

“The nature of a section of the state police has not changed. There is surely some kind of clandestine setting in this matter. I am asking the police why such persons have not been arrested for a long time. The police cannot trace them. However, often such persons are having evening tea with the cops,” Ghosh told media persons on Wednesday.

Barman, a close confidant of some leaders in the previous ruling party, Trinamool Congress, had been absconding for a long time after being accused of the murder of gold merchant Swapan Kamilya at Salt Lake’s Dattabad in October last year.

His arrest, which happened in New Town on the northern outskirts of Kolkata around midnight on Monday, was coincidental and dramatic.

Barman, while driving his car in a heavily intoxicated state at night, hit a two-wheeler rider.

The two-wheeler rider somehow got up and blocked the path of Barman’s vehicle and asked him to get out of the vehicle. Instead of being apologetic, Barman, in a heavily intoxicated state, started abusing him. Soon, some local people assembled at the spot, and Barman started abusing them as well. One of the local people present there recorded the Barman’s entire abusive behaviour and later circulated it on social media. As the situation got tense, personnel from the local Ecopark Police Station arrived.

They detained Barman and took him to the police station. Later, he was arrested.

–IANS

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