Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Jun 29: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Khalid-Uz-Zaman, a proclaimed offender wanted in connection with a murder case linked to the 2021 post-poll violence in West Bengal, officials said on Monday.
The accused was apprehended from Yetala village in Maharashtra's Nanded district after remaining on the run for nearly five years. According to the CBI, he had evaded arrest since the registration of the case in 2021 and had neither joined the investigation nor appeared before the trial court.
The case relates to the alleged murder of Hasnur Zaman, who was killed on May 3, 2021, in North Kalsara village of North 24 Parganas district during the violence that followed the West Bengal Assembly elections.
The CBI took over the investigation on September 1, 2021, following directions issued by the Calcutta High Court on August 19, 2021. The probe was transferred from Duttapukur Police Station, where the original FIR had been registered.
After completing its investigation, the agency filed charge sheets and supplementary charge sheets during 2021 and 2022 against 13 accused persons, including Khalid-Uz-Zaman.
Following his arrest, the accused was produced before the competent court at Dharmabad in Maharashtra to obtain transit remand. He is expected to be taken to Kolkata and produced before the Court of the Additional Sessions Judge at Barasat for further legal proceedings.
Meanwhile, the CBI has also intensified its nationwide campaign against organised cybercrime networks involved in so-called "digital arrest" scams.
Under Operation Chakra-VI, the agency recently deployed 60 specialised teams to conduct coordinated searches at more than 80 locations spread across 16 states.
The raids covered Punjab, Gujarat, Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Assam, West Bengal, Manipur, Karnataka and Odisha as part of an investigation into a large-scale cyber fraud network allegedly linked to more than 200 digital arrest scam cases.
During the operation, CBI officials arrested two suspects from Chennai and Kolkata for allegedly establishing shell companies and operating mule bank accounts that were used to channel and launder nearly ?2 crore in suspected proceeds of crime.
The agency said investigations in both the post-poll violence case and the nationwide cybercrime crackdown are continuing.