A division bench of Calcutta High Court on Monday declined to accept the Bengal government’s appeal against a single judge bench’s order to hand over to the CBI the probe into the murder of Tapan Kandu, the Congress councillor at Jhalda municipality in Purulia district.

The division bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj said the

April 12 order of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha would prevail and the CBI would continue with its probe into Tapan’s murder.

The Jhalda Congress councillor was out on a walk with his wife Purnima Kandu when assailants shot him dead on March 13. A few days after Tapan’s murder, his close aide Niranjan Baishnab died under mysterious circumstances in Jhalda. Following an appeal by Niranjan’s family, Justice Mantha handed over to the CBI the probe into Niranjan’s death also.

The division bench on Monday also rejected an appeal by the state against the CBI probe into Niranjan’s death.

Rape cases

Advocate general S.N. Mukherjee informed Calcutta

High Court on Monday that investigations into four rape cases under the supervision of Damayanti Sen, special commissioner of police, Calcutta, were on the verge of completion and final reports on the cases would be submitted to the court on or before June 28.

Investigation into four rape cases under the supervision of Damayanti Sen, special commissioner of police, Calcutta, were on the verge of completion and final reports of the cases would be submitted before the court on or before June 28, when next date has been fixed for hearing the cases.

On April 12, the division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj had asked Sen to supervise the investigations into the rape that had allegedly taken place at Matia in South 24-Parganas, Deganga in North 24-Parganas, English Bazar in Malda and Bansdroni in Calcutta.

The court had given the directive following petitions by advocate Sushmita Saha Dutta and others.

On Monday, the advocate general told the division bench that apart from the Deganga incident, charge-sheets had already been filed in other cases. In the case of the Deganga incident, the DNA test report was yet to reach.