Cooch Behar: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) lawyer has alleged that crucial evidence related to the 2021 post-election violence case in Dinhata has been tampered with and destroyed while in court custody.
The CBI claims that water entered the document box stored in the GR Court’s Malkhana, damaging critical records, including witness statements and seized weapons. The revelation has sparked widespread concern. The court has directed the Cooch Behar SP to investigate the matter.
On Wednesday, CBI lawyer Kaushik Bhadra made the allegation while attending a hearing at Dinhata Court in connection with the murder case of BJP worker Haradhan Roy, who was killed in the Petla area during post poll violence in 2021. Bhadra stated: “The evidence in this case, including witness statements and recovered weapons, was kept in a trunk in the Malkhana of the GR Court.
When it was opened in the presence of the judge on Tuesday, it was found that water had seeped in, completely destroying the documents. How this happened is now a serious question.
I have requested the court to investigate how such a lapse occurred and whether this was an attempt to destroy evidence in an ongoing trial.
The court has directed the Superintendent of Police to look into it. There is a definite lapse on the part of the police as the important documents and exhibits were in the Court’s Malkhana under the GR Police. How could water enter the trunk?”
The incident has raised concerns about the security of sensitive case records. Meanwhile, defense lawyers for the accused, Abdul Jalil Ahmed and Vivek Dutta, countered the CBI’s claims, stating: “The delay in the case is due to the CBI’s failure to produce witnesses in court on time.”