New Delhi, 06 August (H.S.): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested proclaimed absconder Arup Das alias Bapi Das from Guwahati, Assam, in connection with the Avijit Sarkar murder case linked to the post-election violence that followed the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections. The accused had been absconding since the FIR was registered in 2021.

The CBI said on Thursday that the accused had never joined the investigation or the judicial proceedings. The agency had announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for information leading to his arrest. He was apprehended on the basis of specific intelligence inputs and technical surveillance.

The agency took over the investigation on August 25, 2021, in compliance with the Calcutta High Court's order dated August 19, 2021, after assuming charge of the FIR registered at Narkeldanga Police Station in Kolkata.

The case pertains to the alleged murder of Avijit Sarkar on May 2, 2021, at Sitalatala Lane in Kolkata during the violence that erupted after the Assembly election results.

Upon completion of the investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet in 2021 and a supplementary chargesheet in 2025 against 38 accused persons. Apart from Arup Das alias Bapi Das, those named include then Trinamool Congress MLA Paresh Paul, former Trinamool Congress councillor Swapan Samaddar, and Papiya Ghosh. The case is currently pending before the City Sessions Court in Kolkata.

The CBI said the arrested accused will be brought from Guwahati to Kolkata and produced before the competent court on August 7.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar