NRS lynch case: Two canteen staffers held

KOLKATA: The probe into the NRS lynching case took a curious turn on Saturday. Two canteen staffers — Kartick Mondal alias Ganesh (40) and Rabi Andia (35) — were arrested by a joint team of detective department and Entally police for allegedly being involved in the incident.
“We have arrested the accused around 6pm after several rounds of questioning,” said joint CP (crime) Pallab Kanti Ghosh.
With these arrests, it now seems that Kolkata Police will gun for the senior MBBS students who may have had a hand in the lynching. With first year medical student Jasimuddin proving tough to crack, Lalbazar hopes the two new accused can point them in the right direction.
Senior anti-homicide wing officers said that new sources had implicated the two accused.
“The original complaint claimed that two mobile phones — one of them from a student (Jasimuddin) and another from a canteen staffer — was allegedly stolen that night by Korban Shah. It was certain that canteen staffers were involved in the lynching,” said a source.
The revelation of ‘new sources’, though, has raised eyebrows leading to speculation if it was one of the students who finally gave in under pressure.
Police maintain at least four students are “still under suspicion”.
Cops had earlier found that a key witness, Rabiul, a contract labourer, disappeared after claiming that he was witness to the incident. “This arrest became necessary after we received a tip that the accused were planning to flee,” said an officer.
Cops say that call record details of hostel boarders show a huge number of phone calls made from the cellphones of some senior MBBS students on the morning of November 16, a Sunday. “According to boarders, all of them were sleeping when the incident took place. So it seems odd that after a party at the hostel, the boarders will wake up around 5.30am and begin calling people across the medical, political and legal fraternity in a span of three hours, that too on a holiday,” said a source.
Yet, unless someone points to the culprit, the entire investigation is unlikely to lead anywhere, accept police officers.
With the other sources of information becoming uncertain, cops are pinning their hope on Jasimuddin and the two canteen staffers. However, they have refused to identify the other co-conspirators.