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A tribunal successful West Bengal’s Murshidabad convicted 13 persons of lynching a father-son duo, Harogobind Das and Chandan Das, astatine Samserganj successful April amid a convulsive protestation against the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, and sentenced each of them to beingness imprisonment connected Tuesday (December 23, 2025). The tribunal besides directed the State to wage ₹15 lakh arsenic compensation to the victims’ family.
The 13 were pronounced blameworthy connected Monday (December 22, 2025), 8 months aft a execution that near the communally-diverse Samserganj country unsettled and tense for weeks. The convicts are: Dildar Nadab (28), Asmaul Nadab alias Kalu (27), Inzamul Haque alias Bablu (27), Zia-ul Haque (45), Fekarul Sheikh alias Mahak (25), Azfarul Sheikh alias Bilai (24), Monirul Sheikh alias Moni (39), Iqbal Sheikh (28), Nurul Islam (23), Saba Karim (25), Hazrat Sheikh alias Hazrat Ali (36), Akbar Ali alias Albar Sheikh (30) and Yusuf Sheikh (49).
“We made the lawsuit basal connected 7 Sections, including mob lynching, rioting, dacoity, location trespassing and murder. The tribunal has awarded beingness imprisonment to each convicts, including 10 years’ imprisonment for dacoity and location trespassing and 5 years for rioting. A sum of ₹5,000 good has besides been levied for each offence. State authorities person been directed to wage ₹15 lakh arsenic compensation to the victims’ family,” nationalist authoritative Bivas Chatterjee told The Hindu connected Tuesday (December 23).
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He said this was the 2nd condemnation successful the state and the archetypal successful West Bengal nether Section 103(2) of the BNS that pertained to mob lynching. Mr. Chatterjee besides claimed that it was the archetypal condemnation successful West Bengal for rioting.
On April 12, Harogobind and Chandan were brutally hacked to decease aft being dragged retired of their location successful Jafrabad colony successful Murshidabad’s Samserganj constabulary presumption country erstwhile a protestation against the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 turned violent. The mob besides torched and vandalised property, compelling hundreds of residents to fly from the Samserganj area, peculiarly Dhulian and Tinpakuria.
The Calcutta High Court connected April 12, portion proceeding a petition by Leader of the Opposition and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Suvendu Adhikari, had directed the deployment of Central forces successful the region, wherever communal tensions flared for respective weeks since the violence.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) nether the enactment of Deputy Inspector General of Murshidabad constabulary scope Syed Waquar Raza investigated the murders and connected June 6 this twelvemonth submitted a 983-page complaint sheet, 56 days aft the crime.
“The tribunal had observed successful its verdict that the Das household had an ongoing feud related to spot with definite radical from the neighbourhood. During the incident, animosity stemming from the spot feud was fuelled by the ambiance of unit that ensued astatine that time. This is what we had recovered arsenic the motive down the murders,” Additional Director General of Police, South Bengal, Supratim Sarkar said connected Tuesday (December 23).
He added that aft the incident, the 13 miscreants were connected the run. They were apprehended pursuing raids astatine Jharsugda successful Odisha, Pakur successful Jharkhand, Paikar successful West Bengal’s Birbhum district, from antithetic locations successful Howrah, and from Farakka and Jangipur. The probe progressive gait signifier investigation of the miscreants, DNA investigation recovered from offending weapons, and mapping of the accused done mobile towers.
A high-ranking constabulary authoritative associated with the probe had earlier told The Hindu that the 13 persons named successful the chargesheet were locals of the area, and immoderate of them were known to the bereaved family.
The judgement successful this case, on with the caller lynching of Dipu Chandra Das successful Bangladesh, assumes value successful the airy of the BJP’s governmental enactment up of the 2026 Assembly polls successful West Bengal.
Hanshkhali gang-rape case
In different development, a tribunal successful West Bengal’s Ranaghat connected Monday (December 22) convicted Trinamool Congress (TMC) person Samarendra Gayali, his lad Brajagopal alias Sohail Gayali, and 7 others successful the gangrape of a insignificant miss astatine Sohail’s day enactment successful Hanskhali successful Nadia territory successful April 2022. The miss had succumbed to her injuries a time later.
The lawsuit was investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The 9 convicts were pronounced blameworthy connected Monday (December 21) nether respective Sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, including Sections pertaining to pack rape, demolition of evidence, transgression intimidation etc.
On Tuesday (December 23), the tribunal sentenced 3 of them, namely Sohail, Ranjit Mallick and Prabhakar Poddar, to beingness imprisonment. Trinamool person Samarendra Gayali and Piyush Bhakt were awarded 5 years’ imprisonment, portion Angshuman Bagchi and Deepta Gayali were awarded 3 years’ imprisonment.
The remaining 2 convicts, Surjit Roy and Akash Barui, were released connected a bail enslaved of ₹50,000 each.
