Prasanta Burman, the former Rajganj block development officer accused in the abduction and murder of a gold trader, did not surrender by the deadline set by the Calcutta High Court and has instead challenged the order in the Supreme Court, according to Anandabazar. The development has intensified questions over the ability of the state police and administration to enforce court directions against a serving government official.
The High Court had directed Burman to surrender within 48 hours, with the deadline expiring at 3.30 pm on Thursday. The court had also ordered the state to stop his salary immediately and prepare an inventory of his property after the deadline. Burman did not appear before the authorities within the stipulated period, and has now filed a case in the Supreme Court. A hearing is expected next week.
The High Court’s direction followed proceedings arising from the alleged abduction and murder of gold trader Swapan Kamilllya. The trader’s body was recovered from a canal bank in the Jatragachhi area of New Town on October 29 last year. Burman was named as one of the main accused in the case. The Criminal Investigation Department took over the investigation in July, but has not been able to locate him, the report said.
The case has also raised questions about how Burman continued to receive his government salary while remaining unavailable to investigators. On Tuesday, a division bench led by Chief Justice Rabindra V Bhug and Justice Om Narayan Rai directed the state to stop the salary and begin the process of identifying and attaching his property. The bench questioned why a government official had remained absconding for so long and why the authorities had not acted on the existing court directions.
The court’s order followed earlier proceedings in which the police and the state faced criticism over their handling of the case. On September 10, Justice Tapobrata Chakraborty questioned the CID’s inability to trace Burman despite a warrant against him. The judge also asked why the government had not taken effective action.
Burman had earlier obtained anticipatory bail from the Barasat and Bidhannagar subdivision courts. The Bidhannagar Police challenged that relief before the High Court, which cancelled the anticipatory bail and directed him to surrender. The Supreme Court also ordered him to surrender on January 23, but he remained outside the reach of investigators, according to the report.
He was arrested on May 25 in a separate case involving an alleged traffic violation after his vehicle reportedly hit a pedestrian near the Eco Park police station area in New Town. He was produced before a Barasat court the following day. However, the court did not receive the documents relating to the murder case, and he was granted bail after the magistrate waited for the records until the evening.
The latest Supreme Court petition places the next stage of the dispute before the country’s top court while the High Court’s directions remain central to the proceedings. The High Court is scheduled to review compliance on December 14; the petitioner in the police-inaction case has said contempt proceedings could follow if the court finds that its orders were not implemented.
