CPM workers get life term in Tapasi murder

CHANDERNAGORE: In a major embarrassment to the ruling CPM in West Bengal, the Chandernagore sub-divisional court on Wednesday sentenced former CPM Singur zonal committee secretary Suhrid Datta and party supporter Debu Malik to life imprisonment in connection with the murder of the 19-year-old Tapasi Malik.

The court had on Tuesday convicted Suhrid Datta and Debu Malik of murdering Tapasi Malik, whose charred remains were recovered from within the erstwhile Tata Motors small-car factory compound at Bajemelia in Singur. Additional district sessions judge Amar Kanti Acharya pronounced the sentence on Wednesday.

While Datta had been convicted under sections relating to criminal conspiracy and murder, Malik nailed for murder.
CBI lawyer Partha Tapasi had said, "We are happy. The court upheld all the three charges that we mentioned in our chargesheet against Suhrid Datta."

Soon after the verdict, Datta's elder brother Saroj, also a local CPM leader, was in tears. "It is a conspiracy against my brother," Saroj said. Tapasi's parents Manoranjan and Malina looked upbeat. "We want them hanged. We also want to see those faces (CPM leaders) who told that we are doing business with our dead daughter," Manoranjan said.

The order has come as a shot in the arm to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who will visit Singur on December 15. "Truth prevailed at last. I will go to Singur and demand for the return of 400 acres of land, so that Tapasi���s soul rests in peace," Mamata said.