Bengal man probed in Bogtui killings died by 'suicide' in CBI custody

Kolkata: The man who is accused of leading a crowd to commit massacre in Bengal's Bogtui village allegedly died by suicide in CBI custody Monday afternoon.

Police picked Lalon Sheikh from Jharkhand's Pakur, eight months after women and children had been burnt alive in Birbhum district, according to NDTV.

Sheikh, who died by hanging himself in the afternoon yesterday, had been housed in a temporary camp of the CBI after the agency began probing the case as was directed by the Calcutta High Court.

Lalon Sheikh's body will undergo post-mortem at Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital. Meanwhile,

Senior police officers from the district rushed to the CBI office upon receiving the news. His family, demanding action against the CBI, blocked the road at Bogtui More near Rampurhat town.

Superintendent Nagendra Tripathi of Birbhum Police told reporters that local police were informed of the death at around 4:40PM and 5:00PM.

Tripathi said that the CBI informed the police that Sheikh died by hanging himself, and added the police would start a probe into the "unnatural death".

The CBI arrested Sheikh on December 4, more than eight months after the violence in Bogtui village.

Sheilk allegedly led a violent crowd that set homes on fire in the village killing ten people.

It was triggered following the murder of the deputy chief of a gram panchayat and Trinamool's Bhadu Sheikh, according to the report.

The CBI has been investigating both the Bogtui violence and the murder of Bhadu Sheikh.

Bhadu Sheikh was allegedly killed following rivalry between him and his associates over shady business deals and a share of extortion money.