Trinamool MLA's bodyguard found dead in Kolkata's MLA hostel

The body of a personal bodyguard and close associate of a Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator from Purulia district of West Bengal was discovered under mysterious circumstances within the premises of the MLA hostel in Kolkata on Saturday.

The deceased was identified as Jaideb Gharai, a constable of the state police, and he was the bodyguard of Rajib Lochan Soren, the TMC MLA from Bandwan assembly segment in Purulia.

A police team, accompanied by four members of a forensics team and led by deputy commissioner (south) of Kolkata Police Priyabrata Roy reached the spot.

“We are investigating the matter. The body has been sent for post-mortem and the exact reason behind his death will be known only once the autopsy report comes,” said an investigating official.

Questions have been raised on how the incident could have taken place within a high-security zone like the MLA hostel. Investigating officials have begun questioning security personnel who were on duty at the hostel from Friday night until Saturday morning. An official of the city police said initial investigation indicates that it was a case of death by suicide.

The hostel had made news for another suspicious death in November 1994, when Forward Bloc MLA Ramjan Ali was discovered dead in his room, apparently from strangulation. It was later discovered that Ali, the MLA from Goalpara in Uttar Dinajpur, had been murdered by one Nurul Islam, who was in a relationship with Ali's wife Taulat Sultana. In 2005, Calcutta High Court upheld the life sentences to both Islam and Sultana.

With inputs from IANS