Malda police on Wednesday arrested Narendranath Tiwari, a Trinamool leader, and Swapan Sharma, a resident with past murder cases pending against him, on charges of being the key conspirators in the Dulal Sarkar murder case.
The duo, senior police officers said, had paid ₹50 lakh to contract killers to murder TMC councillor Sarkar.
In recent years, this is the first time in the state that a Trinamool leader has been arrested for allegedly plotting the murder of a party colleague.
Tiwari, 62, heads the Englishbazar town block committee of TMC and is also the district president of the party’s Hindi cell in Malda.
“Tiwari and Sharma are the main conspirators and had given a contract of ₹50 lakh to the killers for the job. Police are investigating the motive behind the murder,” said Supratim Sarkar, the additional director general of police (south Bengal), in Calcutta on Wednesday.
Dulal Sarkar
The contract, he said, was given to four criminals. “Two of them have been arrested while the remaining two are absconding. The police have announced cash rewards of ₹2 lakh for each of them,” he added.
On January 2, Sarkar was gunned down by armed men near his plywood factory in Jhaljhalia area of Malda town.
With the two arrests on Wednesday, seven persons have so far been arrested in this connection.
On Tuesday, the police called Tiwari, along with his two brothers, and Sharma at the Englishbazar police station. A police team led by Pradeep Kumar Yadav, the district police chief of Malda, questioned the two for almost 22 hours. On Wednesday, the duo were arrested.
Swapan Sharma, who has also been arrested in connection with the Dulal Sarkar murder case. File picture
“While investigating the murder, police arrested five persons for their alleged involvement. Tiwari and Sharma were arrested based on the revelations made by these five during interrogation,” said Sarkar.
“Sharma is a history-sheeter with previous involvements in murder and arson,” the senior police officer added.
He also said that the duo had conducted a recce of the murder site and mapped the movements of intended victim Sarkar.
“We are trying to submit a chargesheet of the case at the earliest. Also, investigations are going on to find out whether the full contract amount was transferred to the hired killers,” said the ADG.
The arrests of Tiwari and 72-year-old Sharma have led to ripples across Malda and beyond.
Tiwari and his wife Anju were elected as councillors at the Englishbazar municipality many times. He was also chairman of the Congress-civic board from 2006 to 2010 and was the leader of the Opposition from 2016 to 2018.
In 2018, he joined the Trinamool and was later posted as the Englishbazar town block president and the head of the party’s Hindi cell.
In 2022, during the civic polls, Tiwari did not get a nomination but his wife contested as a TMC candidate.
Anju contested from ward 21. Sarkar, who was the councillor of ward 20, contested from ward 22, considered to be Tiwari’s home turf.
“From that time, factional rivalry brewed among Sarkar and Tiwari, as the latter backed an Independent contesting against Sarkar. Tiwari also alleged in closed quarters that Sarkar was instrumental in the defeat of his wife Anju in ward 21. She was defeated by the BJP candidate,” said a source.
Soon after the election results were declared, there was a clash among supporters of Sarkar and Tiwari.
Tiwari got injured and was hospitalised.
Sarkar, who was the vice-chairman of Englishbazar municipality for four terms, was removed from the post, a decision that the party is believed to have taken over his involvement in the clash.
Since then, the duo had been at loggerheads.
Krishnendu Choudhury, chairman of the TMC-run Englishbazar municipality, said Sarkar was apprehensive that Tiwari was plotting to kill him.
“Tiwari and his brothers used to run a gang at Mahanandapally (where Sarkar stayed as well). Unfortunately, Dulal Sarkar’s fear turned into reality,” Choudhury said.
“Swapan Sharma is a contract killer. Earlier, he had made attempts to kill me at the behest of some CPM leaders,” Choudhury alleged.
Both Tiwari and Sharma, while being taken out of the Englishbazar police station, claimed they had been “falsely implicated in the case.”
“This was a conspiracy against me. There is a big shot behind the murder of Dulal Sarkar. He killed Dulal and also half-finished me,” said Tiwari after his arrest.
Debajyoti Pal, the assistant public prosecutor, said the duo were produced at the chief judicial magistrate’s court on Wednesday.
“The court heard the case and ordered police custody for three days for both of them,” said Pal.