CBI Arrests Proclaimed Offender Jharna Mistry in 2021 Bengal Post-Poll Murder Case

Jharna Mistry, the wife of co-accused Sanjay Mistry, was arrested from Ghoshpara in Santoshpur, South 24 Parganas, on Tuesday. The CBI said she had remained absconding since the registration of the case and had not joined the investigation or trial.

The agency had announced a cash reward of Rs 50,000 for information leading to her arrest. She was subsequently declared a proclaimed offender by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate at Barrackpore on October 3, 2023, after repeatedly evading the judicial process.

The case dates back to the aftermath of the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections. Acting on an order of the Calcutta High Court dated August 19, 2021, the CBI took over FIR No. 345/2021, originally registered at Jagaddal Police Station in North 24 Parganas on May 3, 2021.

The FIR was based on allegations surrounding the death of Sova Rani Mondal, the mother of complainant and BJP worker Kamal Mondal. The CBI investigation alleged that Mondal was killed after the declaration of the Assembly election results on May 2, 2021.

Following its investigation, the CBI filed a supplementary chargesheet on December 29, 2021, naming 13 accused persons, including Mistry.

The agency had been seeking Mistry for several years. In March 2023, it publicly announced a Rs 50,000 reward for information that could lead to her arrest. She was eventually traced to the Ghoshpara area of Santoshpur and taken into custody.

The arrested accused is being produced before the competent court in Barrackpore, the CBI said. Further proceedings will determine the course of the case against her.

The arrest comes amid the CBI's continuing investigation into cases of violence reported in West Bengal following the 2021 Assembly election. The agency had taken over multiple cases following directions from the Calcutta High Court.

In another prominent case from the same period, the CBI had also announced a Rs 50,000 reward for information concerning the murder of BJP worker Abhijit Sarkar in Kolkata. Sarkar was allegedly strangled with a television cable during the post-poll violence.

Sarkar's family had repeatedly raised allegations regarding the investigation into his death and approached both the Supreme Court and the Calcutta High Court seeking further proceedings in the case.

The latest arrest marks another development in the long-running legal proceedings stemming from the violence that followed the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election.