Midnapore: The trial of 20 accused
including West Bengal`s former minister and MLA Sushanta Ghosh
for alleged abduction and murder of five Trinamool Congress
workers began here on Friday.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Kallol Das initiated the trial
and committed it to the district judge here.
A total of 58 persons were made accused in the case, but
20 persons have so far been arrested. Properties of the all
absconding accused were attached.
All the accused were charged with abduction, murder,
criminal intimidation, tampering of evidence and possession of
illegal arms among others.
Five skeletons were dug up from a pit near Ghosh`s
ancestral house at Benachapra village in West Midnapore
district in June last. Ghosh was arrested by CID on August 11
and the chargesheet was filed on September 23.
According to the charge sheet, five Trinamool Congress
workers were killed by the accused on September 22, 2002 at
Piyasala village and buried at Benachapra.
DNA tests confirmed two skeletons of two missing
Trinamool workers Ajay Acharya and Swapan Singh alias Raju. No
DNA test could be conducted on other skeletons because of
degeneration of bone marrow, police said.
PTI
