Trader throat slit in border town - Murder triggers arson attack in Jaigaon

A car on the Jaigaon police station premises that was set ablaze by arsonists on Sunday morning
. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

TT, Alipurduar, Sept. 15: A businessman who supplied construction materials to traders in Bhutan was found murdered with his throat slit in Jaigaon this morning.

The body of 50-year-old Raj Kumar Pandey was spotted under a bridge by morning walkers about 1km from the businessman’s home.

Pandey is a building materials supplier with business links in Bhutan, which is close to the Alipurduar district’s border town of Jaigaon.

Jawed Shamim, inspector-general, north Bengal, said police were probing the angles of personal rivalry and murder for gain.

“A bag with a laptop that the deceased was carrying is missing. His throat was slit. We have sought expert opinion to ascertain if the murder was the handiwork of a professional killer who could have been appointed by someone,” Shamim said.

Sources in Alipurduar police said they had got some leads and were “going through the victim’s background”.

Pandey’s elder daughter, 21-year-old Rani, said the family had not named anyone as a suspect in the murder complaint lodged at Jaigaon police station.

News of the murder sparked a mob arson attack at Jaigaon police station this morning, in which a car that had been seized by the police was set on fire.

Eight persons were arrested for the attack. No arrests have been made in the murder case yet.

The mob, which accused the police of inaction despite a spate of snatchings, damaged several cars inside the police station premises.

Akash Magharia, the additional superintendent of police, Alipurduar, said: “We have already started the investigation into the murder. Unnecessarily, the mob went to the police station and damaged vehicles. We used two rounds of tear gas and we had to go for a mild baton-charge.”

Magharia said the police had “arrested eight persons involved in the violence. Now there will be additional force in Jaigaon police station till the situation becomes normal. Raids will continue throughout the night.”

Rani said the family started “searching for my father around midnight. He used to walk home, but did not return around 11.30pm.”

Asked if the family suspected anyone for the murder, she said: “We have not named anyone in the police complaint.”

The Pandeys have lived in a one-storey house in Jaigaon for several years. Rani said her father “supplied construction materials to places in Bhutan. He also did his own construction work,” she said.

Pandey lived with his wife and three children — Rani has a younger sister and a brother.

Traders in the town today alleged that snatchings had become common in the area in the last few months. Jaigaon has a large number of traders as it is on the border with Bhutan.

Family members, friends and neighbours of Pandey blocked the police vehicle carrying Pandey’s body to Alipurduar hospital this morning, after which the team requested the crowd to disperse. They relented.

But later in the day, the few shops in Jaigaon that had opened downed shutters as mobs started picketing and blocking roads around 8.30am. The road to Bhutan was also blocked. The protesters demanded to arrest of Pandey’s murders and shouted slogans against the police.

The roadblocks in six places continued for about an hour after which the picketers started gathering outside Jaigaon police station.

By 11am, around 400 of the protesters gathered outside the police station and started smashing vehicles on the premises, forcing the police to baton-charge and use tear gas.

The mob also tried to enter the police station but the guards somehow managed to lock the main gate of the building and thwarted the bid.

R.S. Gupta, the secretary of the Jaigaon Merchants’ Association, said: “For the last few months, anti-social activities have increased in Jaigaon and people were angry. People initially blocked the vehicle carrying the body for post-mortem. Then they went to the police station to demand immediate arrest of the murderers.”