Another accused arrested in Assam BJP leader's murder case

Guwahati, June 17 Assam police have arrested one more person in connection with the murder of BJP leader Jonali Nath.

The second accused, identified as Ajibur Rahman, was taken into custody in Goalpara district's Matia area.

Rahman was detained after the primary suspect in the case, Hasnur Islam, admitted to his role in the murder during questioning, according to police sources.

The two carried out a pre-planned assassination of the BJP leader, sources said.

Earlier last Monday, Hasnur, owner of a clothing store in Goalpara, was taken into custody in Matia Bazar. After Hasnur's arrest, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the Assam Police at a presser claimed that Hasanur and the victim "were in an extramarital affair" for the past two years.

Debraj Upadhyay, the Inspector General of CID in Assam, told the media that Hasanur Islam had admitted in police interrogation about his affair with Jonali Nath for more than two years, but that he had lately wed another woman, and Jonali was upset about it.

According to Upadhyay, Hasnur also admitted that on Sunday night Jonali came to meet him; he picked her up in his car at the Matia area of the Goalpara, and they had a quarrel inside the car.

"He hit her many times in the face when she questioned his marriage, rendering her unconscious," the officer said.

However, Upadhyay's statement did not go down well with the Nath family, and Chandra Kumar Nath, the deceased leader's husband, filed a police complaint against the CID officer.

He alleged that the case's narrative had been changed before the media by the CID. The FIR mentioned that how the accused might kill the victim while operating a vehicle was left unexplained by the investigation report.

In the FIR, Chandra Kumar Nath also claimed that the police's extramarital affair angle of the case is unacceptable and asserted that Jonali Nath's character is unquestionable.

DGP G.P. Singh later went to Goalpara to take stock of the investigation and also visited the deceased woman leader's house.

Meanwhile, as a piece of wood with bloodstains was found at the apartment of the accused and is believed to be the murder weapon used to kill the BJP leader, the police said that the confessions made by the main accused, Hasnur Islam, were proved to be fraudulent.

The murder weapon was confiscated by the police and sent for analysis.

Singh tendered an apology for Upadhyay's remark and said that the police would conduct a special training programme to train the officers about how to narrate details of any sensitive incident before the media.

tdr/sha