Overview

• Sub-Inspector Ratna Sarkar and Home Guard Dipankar Debnath filed bail petitions before a single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on July 21.
• The bench directed the CBI to submit a detailed report by Friday on the officers’ involvement in the May 2, 2021 post-poll killing of BJP worker Abhijit Sarkar.
• Both officers were remanded to judicial custody until July 31 by a special CBI court on July 18 alongside retired ACP Subhojit Sen.
• Their names appeared in the CBI’s July 2 supplementary chargesheet that expanded the accused in the case to 38, marking the first time serving police personnel were charged.
• Transferred from Kolkata Police to the CBI in 2021, the investigation has spotlighted concerns over law enforcement conduct in political violence.