CBI Names TMC MLA Paresh Pal in 2021 BJP Worker Murder Case

The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a second supplementary chargesheet in the 2021 murder of Bharatiya Janata Party worker Avijit Sarkar, naming Trinamool Congress MLA Paresh Pal and two Kolkata municipal councillors—Swapan Samaddar and Papiya Ghosh—among 18 additional accused. The document was placed before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate in Sealdah on 30 June, and the court has taken cognisance of the offences. Sarkar was beaten to death in Kolkata’s Narkeldanga neighbourhood on 2 May 2021, hours after West Bengal’s assembly-election results were announced, an episode that became emblematic of the post-poll violence in the state. The CBI assumed control of the investigation on 25 August 2021 following a Calcutta High Court order, inherit­ing a Kolkata Police chargesheet that had cited 15 suspects. The agency’s first supplementary filing, on 30 September 2021, expanded the list to 20. Its latest submission lifts the total number of people formally accused to 38. BJP leaders, including state president and Union minister Sukanta Majumdar, welcomed the fresh charges, urging swift arrests and trials. The CBI said further investigation under Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure remains open.