A cold case, a TMC leader's film debut, and a burning question: What happened to Manisha Mukhopadhyay?
It is one of the most famous cold cases in West Bengal. One fine day in early September 1997, senior Calcutta University (CU) official Manisha Mukhopadhyay disappeared without a trace, leaving behind an elderly mother who believed her daughter's disappearance was linked to her proximity to Left Front bigwigs at the time and never gave up looking for her.
Now, over a quarter of a century later, the story of Mukherjee's disappearance is set to come to the big screen in director Arindam Sil's next film Karpoor (Camphor) starring Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders Kunal Ghosh and Bratya Basu, a state minister. While people involved in the film said Ghosh's character was loosely based on then CPI(M) state secretary Anil Biswas, one of the most powerful leaders at the time, Ghosh told The Indian Express, 'It is based on a political thriller. I am acting as the state secretary of a political party. But that doesn't mean that I am playing Anil Biswas. This is my debut film, and I asked Arindam to tutor me in the art of acting.'
Mukhopadhyay was the assistant controller of examinations at Calcutta University, and this resulted in her proximity to frontline CPI(M) leaders at the time. According to her mother Chinu, who later moved court alleging that her daughter had been murdered, the CU official knew many secrets, and this was the reason for her disappearance.
According to reports at the time, on the day of her disappearance, Mukhopadhyay was on her way from the city's Bhowanipore area to visit her parents in south Kolkata and got into a cab with her husband and nephew. After her husband alighted from the cab on the way, the CU official and her nephew continued on their way, but a few yards down the road, Mukhopadhyay told her nephew to get down from the taxi. He initially refused but eventually got down near the city's Golpark area, and the taxi sped away. That was the last time anyone saw Mukhopadhyay.
The police struggled to make much headway, and the investigation subsequently stalled. Two years later, after Chinu Mukhopadhyay found some photographs among her daughter's belongings, the police again reopened the case. This time, the police received several reports of Mukhopadhyay being sighted, from an ashram in Purulia to Bodh Gaya to Assam. But no solid lead materialised, leaving the probe faltering again.
Before entering politics, Ghosh was a political reporter and editor and, according to people in the TMC, used to be close to Anil Biswas. 'Kunal da was very close to many CPI(M) leaders, including Anil Biswas, and he saw Biswas closely. So, he is an ideal choice for the role,' said a senior TMC leader. Bratya Basu, the state education minister, will play a detective who investigates the case.
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