Purulia district police on Sunday claimed the murder of newly elected Congress councillor Tapan Kandu in Jhalda had its roots in a long-standing family feud and there was no political link to it, a day ahead of Calcutta High Court hearing the demand by some members of the deceased’s family for a CBI probe.

Purulia police chief S. Selvamurugan also ruled out allegations by Tapan’s wife and some relatives against the inspector-in-charge of Jhalda police station Sanjib Ghosh of trying to intimidate the Congress councillor to join Trinamul and help the ruling party form the civic board in Jhalda.

“It was a clear case of family dispute that led to the murder. We have not found any link with politics. Our investigations found the rivalry within the family was long-standing and Naren Kandu was planning to kill his cousin Tapan for the past three to four years,” said Selvamurugan.

Tapan was shot dead by three motorcycle-borne assailants at close range when he and his wife Purnima were taking a stroll in Jhalda on the evening of March 13.

On Saturday evening, police arrested Naren and local trader Mohammad Ashik Khan following prolonged interrogations. The police said Naren hired contract killer Kalebar Singh of Bokaro, Jharkhand, through Khan, a poultry shop owner, at Jhalda. Kalebar had been arrested from Bokaro early on Friday. Police said Kalebar was also wanted in several cases of robbery and contract killings in Purulia and Jharkhand.

“Naren contacted Kalebar through the trader and paid him Rs 7 lakh to eliminate Tapan Kandu. We have also identified the bike and it will be seized soon,” the SP said and added the weapon used in the murder was not yet found.

“Four more persons from Bihar and Jharkhand are involved in the murder. They will be arrested soon,” added an investigating officer.

Naren and Khan were produced before the court in Purulia and were remanded to 14 days of police custody.

Last month, the police had arrested Naren’s son Dipak who had contested against his uncle Tapan in the civic polls from Trinamul and lost.

“The defeat of Dipak in the civic poll may have added insult to injury and Naren finally decided to kill Tapan,” said an investigating officer at Jhalda police station.

Naren, Dipak, Khan and Kalebar were together put through a marathon interrogation on Saturday, police said. “During interrogations they broke down and confessed to their crime,” said the investigating officer.

However, one of the nephews of the slain Congress leader, Mithun Kandu, did not buy this explanation.

“If we had a long-standing family dispute there should be some evidence. We are surprised at the way the police arrived at the conclusion regarding my uncle’s murder. Shame on them,” said Mithun.

He also alleged no action had been taken against the inspector-in-charge Ghosh.

Tapan’s wife Purnima agreed with Mithun. “The inspector-in-charge had been threatening my husband, asking him to switch over to Trinamul. But the SP ruled it out. We are sticking to the demand of a CBI probe,” Purnima said.

“The SP gave a clean chit to the IC who is named in the complaint of Purnima Kandu. How can he do that when the matter is sub judice? We will bring up the issue in court tomorrow (Monday). The forensic reports of telephonic conversations of the IC are yet to come and the SP has given his verdict. This SP has been questioned by central agencies in the coal scam case. He is known for hobnobbing with Trinamul leaders and one can’t trust him,” said lawyer and Congress leader Koustav Bagchi.