Police early on Friday arrested one Kalebar Singh from Bokaro in neighbouring Jharkhand on charges of murdering Congress councillor Tapan Kandu in Jhalda, Purulia district, last March.

Sources at Jhalda police station said Kalebar is a known Jharkhand-based criminal and wanted in several cases of robbery and contract killings in Purulia as well as in the neighbouring state.

“He (Kalebar) is one of the three prime accused in Tapan Kandu murder case. We will interrogate him in custody,” said S. Selvamurugan, the superintendent of police Purulia.

Kalebar was produced before the Purulia district and sessions judge that remanded him to 14 days of police custody.

The police said Kalebar was among the three youths who had come on a motorbike and shot dead the Congress councillor from a very close range while he was taking an evening stroll near his residence with his wife Purnima on March 13.

“Kalebar was leading the assailants and was wearing a helmet to hide his face. He was also involved as a mastermind in a case of robbery in Purulia town in 2013. We will soon recover the motorbike used during the time of murder,” said a police officer in Jhalda.

The police said acting on a tip-off they raided a hideout in Bokaro, Jharkhand, some 35km away from Jhalda town and arrested Singh with help from their counterparts in the neighbouring state.

Last month, the police had also arrested Tapan’s nephew Dipak Kandu who had contested against him in the civic polls as a Trinamul candidate and lost.

However, the arrest raised doubts and questions among the victim’s family members.

“We have moved Calcutta High Court demanding a CBI probe as we are not happy at the way the state police are carrying on with the investigations. We have lodged complaints against six persons including the inspector-in-charge of Jhalda police station. Three weeks have elapsed since the arrest but only Dipak Kandu, one of the six persons whom we have accused, has been arrested so far. Kalebar’s arrest is an attempt to show something new to the court as we have demanded a CBI probe,” said Mithun Kandu, another nephew.

In response to an earlier order of the court, police on Friday submitted the case diary and status report of the probe to the high court. A copy of the status report was handed over to the lawyer appearing for Purnima. Justice Jaymalya Bagchi asked the lawyer to give his views on the report on Monday, which is the next date of hearing.

“The case will be heard on Monday. We are sticking to our demand for a CBI probe,” said Mithun.