3 hour meeting before fatal ride
The special investigation team probing the Saturday murder of Rajesh Jha a.k.a. at East Burdwan’s Shaktigarh is working on the statement of the driver of the SUV in which the hotelier was headed from Durgapur towards Calcutta when seven bullets were pumped into him.
According to the written statement given to police by Sheikh Noor Hossain, driver of the SUV (WB 48D/7032) owned by Abdul Latif, a close aide of Trinamul leader Anubrata Mondal, he reached Illambazar at 8am on Saturday to report for duty.
“I started from Illambazar with my employer and owner of the White Fortuner Abdul Latif around 1.30pm on Saturday. I picked up (Jha’s aide) Bratin Mukherjee from Bhiringi More in Durgapur as directed by Latif. I was advised to stop at Fortune Hotel in Durgapur town where both Latif and Bratin got off the car and went inside. Around 6.10pm, the duo came out with Jha and all three boarded the car. I was instructed to drive to Calcutta,” Hossain’s statement reads.
Police said it took around one hour to reach Bhiringi More from Illambazar and it was assumed that the vehicle reached Fortune Hotel in Durgapur, which was owned by Jha, with Latif and Mukherjee around 2.40pm.
The police are trying to know the details of the meeting held among the trio at Fortune Hotel.
“It is clear from the statement of the driver that the meeting was held for over three hours before they started from Calcutta. The details of the meeting can only be revealed by Jha’s aide Mukherjee, as Latif is absconding,” said a police officer.
Hossain stated he stopped at Shaktigarh’s Lyangcha Hub, a refreshment corner, around 7.35pm on Jha’s instruction.
“All of us, other than Jha, got off the car and came back within minutes after buying jhalmuri. Suddenly, Bratin Mukherjee asked to me bring a packet of pan masala for him,” reads Hossain’s statement.
Hossain described the moment of the fatal attack that he witnessed while walking to the car with pan masala.
“…I found three persons firing at my car. I found Bratin (Mukherjee)’s hand bleeding and he was standing outside. As I shouted to alert people, the goons fled in a Blue Baleno…. I could not trace my employer and owner of the car after the firing,” the statement added.
Police said that in a purported video, Latif was walking around the SUV, talking on the phone till the police reached.
A police officer said that to crack the Jha murder the driver’s statement was vital.
“We are working on it to find out if all the chronological details are factually correct. There are a few missing links that the cops have to decode,” said a police source.
Jha was an influential Durgapur businessman with purported coal smuggling links. Latif, a resident of Birbhum’s Illambazar, was an accused in a cattle-smuggling case probed by the CBI and the ED.
A source said Mukherjee and Hossain were brought to the East Burdwan police chief’s office on Monday evening for interrogation. “Mukherjee primarily claimed he did not have any idea about Latif,” said a cop.
