Kolkata, July 9 -- In a fresh development in the Duttabad jeweller murder case in Salt Lake, the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate, in coordination with the Special Task Force (STF) and the Cyber Crime Police Station, has significantly intensified its crackdown on suspended WBCS officer and former Rajganj Block Development Officer (BDO) Prashanta Burman.
In a major breakthrough late on Wednesday night, a police team, accompanied by forensic experts, raided Burman's apartment in New Town. The forensic team spent several hours collecting biological samples, fingerprints and electronic evidence. The raid was part of an intensified effort to trace the suspended bureaucrat, who has been evading arrest for months.
Burman is the prime accused in the October 2025 kidnapping and murder of Swapan Kamilya, a 45-year-old gold trader from Duttabad. According to police records, Kamilya was abducted in a car fitted with an illegal blue beacon. The landlord from whom Kamilya had rented his jewellery shop was also abducted. However, he was released after the vehicle reached Burman's New Town residence.
Police alleged that Kamilya was taken to Burman's flat in New Town, where he was brutally tortured to death. His body was later recovered from a roadside near a canal at Jatragachi. While five of Burman's close associates have been arrested and remain in judicial custody, the former BDO has continued to evade the police. After the Calcutta High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea, Burman moved the Supreme Court seeking the same relief. The apex court, however, directed him to surrender. Instead of complying with the order, police alleged, Burman went underground.
Coincidentally, in May this year, Burman was intercepted by personnel of the Eco Park police station after he allegedly hit a pedestrian while driving an SUV in an inebriated condition.
After refusing to undergo a breath analyser test, the WBCS officer was arrested in the drunk driving case. Although he secured bail the following day, police allegedly did not arrest him.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.