The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), questioning Bihar-based gangster Subodh Singh in custody, has started making inquiries about his alleged involvement in the murder of Manish Shukla, a BJP youth leader, in Titagarh in October 2020.
The trigger: Anish Thakur, arrested for his links in the Shukla case and known to be Subodh’s close aide, called up Ajay Mandal, a Barrackpore-based realtor, from jail.
A team of CID officers visited Dum Dum jail, where Thakur is lodged, on Saturday and questioned him for over two hours.
While officers remained tight-lipped, sources said they wanted to find out about Thakur’s link with Subodh and whether Subodh and his men had allegedly hatched the plot to murder Shukla against a hefty payment.
On June 15, Mandal’s Volvo was sprayed with bullets near Rathtala while he was moving down BT Road.
While Mandal was speaking to the police within minutes of the incident, he said Subodh called up from Beur jail in Patna and threatened him. Eleven days later, on June 26, Mandal said he received a call from Thakur.
Thakur, who was arrested in Tamil Nadu in February 2021 in the Shukla case and later brought to Bengal, asked Mandal to meet him the next day at the Barrackpore court where his court production was scheduled.
“Even after Mandal was provided with police protection, both Subodh and Thakur had been calling him. We want to find out from him (Thakur) about the existing connection with Subodh even three years after his arrest,” said a senior CID officer.
The decision to reopen the Shukla murder case and probe Subodh’s involvement by the CID comes within days of Shukla’s father Chandramani writing to the commissioner of Barrackpore police commissionerate requesting a fresh look at his son’s murder and Subodh’s alleged involvement.
“I have requested that since Subodh Singh is now in CID custody and he remains one of the main accused in the murder of my son, the police should re-open the case,” Chandramani said.
He said a Barrackpore court in August 2023 absolved Subodh of his involvement in the murder of his son. The proceeding, allegedly took place keeping the victim’s family in the dark.
“We have filed a writ petition with the Calcutta High Court saying a court in Barrackpore has illegally acquitted Subodh Singh of murder charges and that he should be tagged again in this case because he was the key conspirator,” Chandramani said.
Besides Subodh, the police have also brought Roshan Yadav, one of Subodh’s key aides, from Beur jail for questioning.
Yadav was among the accused in the Shukla murder case, the police said. “We are trying to connect dots with Subodh in custody,” a senior CID officer said.