Patna hospital murder suspect held in Kolkata: How Bihar-Bengal criminal nexus is ‘deepening'
While police officials emphasise the need for stronger inter-state coordination, Opposition leaders and former police officers have flagged what they describe as an emerging pattern of cross-border crime — with criminals finding shelter and operational ease across 'porous boundaries'.
On Sunday, the Kolkata Police's Special Task Force (STF) arrested 26-year-old Tauseef from a guesthouse in the city. He is accused in the murder of Chandan Mishra, a 36-year-old murder convict who was out on parole and was gunned down inside a Patna hospital earlier this month, allegedly due to gang rivalry.
The Kolkata Police said that Bihar police were initiating legal action to take custody of the accused, three of whom were also arrested.
A retired senior police official notes that the cross-border movement of criminals poses considerable challenges for law enforcement. 'This incident is not isolated, but rather indicative of a worrying trend where individuals involved in criminal activities in one state are increasingly found operating, or seeking refuge, in the other,' the official said.
CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty, however, alleged that the state government is complicit. 'Criminals are considering Bengal and Kolkata safe havens. Can that happen without the help of those who manage the local police? Criminals feel someone here can 'manage' things for them,' he said.
In response, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh dismissed the charge, saying that cross-border criminal movement is not unique to Bengal. 'There have been incidents where crimes occurred here but the criminals were traced to other states. We've even seen dacoity camps operating in neighbouring states, from where criminals were sent to Bengal,' he said.
Ghosh cited an alleged instance from Asansol: 'After a dacoity in Asansol, it was found that the culprits had been trained in a neighbouring state. They were supplied arms there and sent here to commit the crime. At the time, we did not say that the state was a haven for criminals.'
He also mentioned arrests of alleged Rohingya infiltrators in Agartala. 'Some were heading to Delhi, others were planning to catch a train to Bengal. It is our intelligence network that helped arrest many of them from neighbouring states.'
In 2024, Bihar gangster Pappu Chowdhury's name cropped up in the attempted murder of TMC councillor Sushanta Ghosh. Chowdhury and fellow Bihar gangster Subodh Singh have been linked by police to a number of high-profile crimes in Bengal — including the 2019 murder of BJP leader Manish Shukla and the 2023 killing of Durgapur businessman Raju Jha. Singh's name has figured in several cases across multiple Bengal districts.
In 2024, four suspects arrested in connection with jewellery shop heists in the state's Nadia and Purulia were allegedly found to be part of a Bihar-based gang.
Police sources estimate around 50 criminal gangs operate in the border areas of Bihar — with links extending into Bengal, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and even Nepal. According to them, joint operations by the Kolkata Police STF and Bihar STF over the past three years have resulted in at least 58 arrests and the seizure of over 115 firearms, many of them allegedly sourced from illegal arms factories in Bihar.
The arms trade between the two states remains a growing concern. A joint raid in Bihar's Munger last year uncovered an arms assembly unit where gun parts and equipment were seized. Similar crackdowns in Kolkata and parts of Jharkhand have led to the recovery of illegal firearms and cartridges.
'The porous nature of the Bengal-Bihar border, and the ease with which criminals move between jurisdictions, makes things difficult,' said a former police official. 'We need far more rigorous inter-state coordination than we currently have.'
Another senior retired police official expressed worry. 'Not developing intel and not taking proactive measures is our failure. What is happening in Bihar is not our lookout, but if time and again, criminals are found to be escaping to Kolkata to evade arrest, that brings a bad name… It is definitely worrying.'
Sweety Kumari reports from West Bengal for The Indian Express. She is a journalist with over a decade of experience in the media industry. Covers Crime, Defence, Health , Politics etc and writes on trending topics.
With a keen eye for investigative and human-interest stories. She has honed her craft across diverse beats including aviation, health, incidents etc. Sweety delivers impactful journalism that informs and engages audiences.
Sweety Kumari is a graduate of Calcutta University with an Honors degree in Journalism from Jaipuria College and a PG in Mass Communication from Jadavpur University. Originally from Bihar, she is brought up in Kolkata and completed her education from Kendriya Vidyalaya SaltLake. Multilingual, Sweety is fluent in English, Hindi, Bengali, and Maithili. She started her career as an Entertainment and lifestyle journalist with a newsportal in Kolkata. She is working with The Indian Express for 8 years now. ... Read More
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
42 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
RG Kar victim's parents urge all non-TMC parties to join Nabanna Abhijan march on August 9
Grief-stricken parents of the RG Kar medical college victim on Saturday said they were reaching out to different political parties to join the August 9 Nabanna Abhijan (march to West Bengal secretariat) demanding justice for the medic who was raped-murdered at her workplace exactly one year ago. Victim's father said that, from SUCI (Communist) to CPI(M), Congress and BJP — we are urging all parties, except TMC, to join this rally for justice (ANI) The parents had been requested by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari to be part of the march on August 9 where no party flags would be carried and the only slogan will be 'We demand justice'. Adhikari told reporters that he and other BJP leaders would participate in the rally, calling for a thorough investigation into the larger conspiracy behind the incident and demanding that all perpetrators involved in the heinous crime be brought to justice. The victim's father, speaking to reporters in Sodepur, near Kolkata, said: "From SUCI (Communist) to CPI(M), Congress and BJP — we are urging all parties, except TMC, to join this rally for justice — not just for our daughter, but for every woman who has been brutalised." Asked why the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) was being excluded, he alleged: "Because TMC leaders and the administration tried to hush up the investigation into my daughter's death and attempted to dispose of her body at the earliest." Responding to the family's allegations, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said, "While we sympathise with the parents of the RG Kar victim, what they are saying is unfortunate. Their actions appear to be prompted and influenced by certain quarters." Ghosh further added that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), after taking over the case, could not find anything new beyond the findings of the original police probe and one person, found to be behind the ghastly crime, has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by court.
Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Indian Express
Bengal govt rolls out Rs 8,000-cr outreach programme to resolve local issues
TAPAN MONDOL, 31, seated on the front bench in a classroom of Bele-Durganagar High School, Joynagar, in South 24 Parganas, while attending a meeting as part of the TMC government's 'Amader Para, Amader Samadhan' (Our Neighbourhood, Our Solution) initiative, which rolled out from August 2 at the booth level, pointed out, 'We lack drinking water sources, forcing us to travel 2.5 km for water. So, we are proposing at least four tubewells for our Bele-Durganagar area.' During the meeting, a government official on site pointed out, 'One tube well costs around Rs 2 lakh, and we only have Rs 10 lakh fund. Installing four tubewells would exceed our budget.' However, backing Mondol's proposal, another villager, 67-year-old Prafulla Sardar, responded firmly, 'We will handle other issues such as streetlights and poor roads later. Drinking water comes first. So, prioritise the tubewells, then do whatever else you want to.' After the 'success' of its 'Duare Sarkar' and 'Parai Samadhan' campaigns, the West Bengal government on Saturday launched a Rs 8,000-crore outreach programme aimed at resolving local issues such as setting up street lamps, repairing roads and ensuring water supply, across districts, at the level of 'paras' or neighbourhoods. As part of the scheme, a locality (para) is constituted with three booths. On the opening day, each centre had three dedicated rooms where villagers could submit their local demands. These were compiled by a neutral person and handed over to the administration. The proposals would then be reviewed and decisions made on which projects to implement. The administration also arranged a help desk to take individual problems and applications. The move comes ahead of the Assembly elections, which is less than a year away. Organised for Booth 181 of the Joynagar Assembly constituency, the voters of the three booths – 181, 182 and 183 – participated in the project camp. Inaugurating the camp, Sumit Gupta, District Magistrate of South 24 Parganas, said, 'We have supplied the scheme names which will be allowed in this programme. People will put forth their demands in today's meeting. These will be scrutinised and selected projects will be implemented from November. On the first day, we organised 56 camps across the district.' 'In this scheme, one para will be constituted with three booths. But in remote places, we are making para with one or two booths also,' he added. However, a controversy erupted when it surfaced that Bele-Durganagar High School had exams scheduled on Saturday, and the camps began before the exams were completed. The school head master Arijit Sarkar claimed, 'We do not have problems and students also did not face any problems.' Meanwhile, the DM said, 'I do not have any idea that examinations are going on. It is not desirable. We are investigating.' Another camp was organised at Champahati Nilmani Kar Vidyalaya, under the Baruipur-East Assembly constituency, with participants belonging under booth number 24, 25 and 26. Panchayat Development Officer of Baruipur, Sanjib Roy Chowdhury said, 'Many people are coming and expecting that they can submit their problems like OBC certificate, Lakshmir Bhandar application, widow pension like government schemes. We also arranged for them a help desk so that they can submit their demands also.' A local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader, Manna Naskar, said, 'It is a new programme. But it will be useful for development as ground level general voters are participating in this programme.' 'More than 300 persons participated in the programme. They have given many proposals, mostly roads, drinking water and streetlights,' said another TMC leader and local panchayat pradhan Asit Baran Mondol. Last month, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who announced the initiative, claimed, 'First such initiative in INDIA where people can voice their opinions and mutually decide the issues they need to get it resolved in their booth using Rs 10 lakh.' After its launch on Saturday, Banerjee posted on X, 'Amader Para Amader Samadhan' (APAS) is a unique flagship initiative aimed at institutionalizing participatory governance and re-imagining grassroots service delivery through people-engagement and empowerment. APAS camp is a platform where local people shall deliberate, identify and prioritize their local level infrastructure needs.' 'Rs 8,000+ crore is the outlay for APAS with Rs 10 lakh allocated per booth and 80,000+ polling booths being covered by 27,000+ camps. Today, on the first day of 'Amader Para Amader Samadhan' 632 camps are being held across the State. Duare Sarkar counters have also been set up in APAS Camps.I invite the people to visit their camps and participate in the discussions to make APAS a grand success. I also thank the concerned government officials and stakeholders…,' she added.
Hindustan Times
12 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Bengal: Abhishek to address 9,000 TMC workers as BJP begins 4-day strategy meet
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee is set to virtually address over 9,000 party leaders and functionaries on August 5, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a four-day organisational meet in Kolkata on Friday. Both parties are finalising their strategies before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise starts in West Bengal, ahead of the 2026 assembly elections. Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee is set to virtually address over 9,000 party leaders and functionaries on August 5 (HT Photo/Samir Jana) 'Banerjee is likely to lay out a strategy for party leaders on crucial issues including SIR and harassment of Bengali migrant workers in BJP-ruled states. More than 9,000 leaders and functionaries, right from a party MP to a panchayat leader, are expected to attend the virtual meeting,' a senior TMC leader said. Initially, Banerjee was supposed to virtually meet the workers on August 8. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who has slammed the roll-out of SIR in Bihar, alleged that it was a ploy to surreptitiously introduce the National Register of Citizens (NRC), and vowed that she would not allow SIR in Bengal. The chief minister, who is likely to visit Jhargram, Midnapore districts and north Bengal soon, had earlier asked Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to ensure that names of voters are not struck off from the electoral roll and people are not harassed. The state BJP unit kicked off the organisational meeting to strengthen booth-level networks and set up organisational committees, a BJP leader, requesting anonymity, said. 'Discussions would also be held on how the party leaders and functionaries would counter the TMC's narrative on issues such as the SIR,' he added. A senior party leader said that state BJP leaders would soon hit the roads to counter the TMC's false narrative on SIR. Also read: Terms of Trade| Migration, religion, language: Bengal's new political churn 'The SIR was last held in 2022. It is a continuous process. Efforts are being made to spread a false narrative to terrorise the people. We have already told the Hindus and Indian Muslims they have nothing to worry about,' BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya said. The poll body in the state, meanwhile, has asked all political parties to submit the names of booth-level agents (BLAs) as part of the preparation for the possible rollout of the SIR in West Bengal. 'On the direction of the Election Commission of India (ECI), we have written to all the political parties in the state to appoint booth-level agents. The political parties have been asked to submit the list of BLAs, constituency-wise and district-wise, to us. We will send the list to the ECI. These steps are being taken as preparations for the SIR,' chief electoral officer of West Bengal (WBCEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal said. Also read: ECI releases 2022 Bengal SIR data amid speculation over electoral roll revision 'The BJP doesn't have the organisational strength to appoint BLAs in every booth across the state. On the other hand, the TMC and all the political parties were being asked to submit the names of their BLAs. This doesn't seem to be a routine order,' TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said. 'If a Constitutional body is not allowed to work freely, then its protectors would look into it. We all want an error-free voters' list and based on that, a free and fair election,' Bhattacharya said. This comes days after WBCEO's office released the data from the SIR of the electoral roll last conducted in West Bengal in 2022, a move seen as a precursor to the actual SIR exercise. The 2003 Bihar SIR data was published days before the ECI launched the fresh exercise to revise the electoral roll, on June 28, as a reference point for the submission of identification documents.
