Agartala, 23 December 2020: The Tripura Journalist Union (TJU) has demanded the intervention of the Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court, Justice AA Kureshi concerning the murder of two journalists in 2017.

TJU Secretary, Pranab Sarkar said that the union had sent a letter to Justice Kureshi and sought his intervention for speedy investigation into the two murder cases. On September 20, 2017, TV reporter Santanu Bhowmik, 28, was murdered at Mandai, a tribal area of West Tripura District, while covering a political clash between members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT).

On November 21, 2017, senior journalist Sudip Datta Bhowmik’s body was found at the Tripura State Rifle (TSR) headquarters at RK Nagar. Bhowmik had died from a bullet wound.

The then Left Front government had set up a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the murder. However, journalist organizations across the State expressed unhappiness over SIT investigation and had demanded a CBI probe into both cases.

The murder cases were also brought up during the 2018 Tripura Assembly election. The opposition BJP had promised to push for a CBI investigation if it came to power, recalled Sarkar.

Soon after the formation of the BJP-IPFT government, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb ordered a CBI investigation in both the murder cases. However, while both the cases are under investigation, there has been no development till now even after 3 years, regretted Sarkar and therefore urged the Chief Justice to look after the matter and ensure probe is expedited and the culprits are brought book without any further delay.