Sent to Kasaragod to be reformed 3 months ago, Bengal youth dies at brother-in-law’s hands

Kasaragod: After two days of questioning 11 Bengali construction workers, Kasaragod police have unravelled the mystery behind the death of 27-year-old Sushanta Roy — a burly man who arrived from Jalpaiguri district three months ago to work on the construction of the Muslim League's new district headquarters. What the police uncovered delivered a double blow to a family 2,900 km away.

On Wednesday, Kasaragod Town Station House Officer P Nalinakshan arrested 35-year-old Sanjay Roy and charged him with culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). "No one was willing to say what transpired. Initially, they blamed two Malayali workers from Palakkad who stayed with them for Sushanta’s death," said an officer.

Around 1.10 am on April 21, Kasaragod police were alerted about a drunken brawl at a labour shed near the under-construction IUML district headquarters at Anabagilu, close to the new bus stand. Officers reached the spot to find Sushanta Roy lying unconscious, blood oozing from his mouth. "There were no other visible injuries," said the officer. An ambulance took him to the General Hospital, 500 metres away. Doctors declared him dead on arrival.

Around the same time, Damodharan T, the labour contractor, arrived at the shed and found that six of the workers who recently joined him had fled. "I informed the police and gave them the number of one of the workers," he said.

The police tracked the number and found the group had crossed Kannur. District Police Chief BV Vijaybharat Reddy alerted nearby districts, and within hours, the six were picked up in Ottapalam in Palakkad district and brought back to Kasaragod.

By evening, the autopsy from Kannur Government Medical College revealed the cause of death: a fatal blow to the nape.

There were 14 workers at the shed — two Malayalis from Palakkad, and 12 from West Bengal. Of the Bengalis, Sanjay Roy, who married Sushanta's sister, and five others had worked with Damodharan for eight years. Sushanta joined three months ago. The remaining five arrived three weeks ago. "We first suspected the killer to be among those who fled," said Damodharan.
But none were talking. "We had to threaten them with arrest before they opened up," said the officer.

Sunday night, they began drinking. The two Malayali workers, in the adjacent enclosure, had already gone to sleep.

Sushanta, known for creating trouble, wandered out, picked a fight with passersby and was roughed up. He returned to the shed fuming and took it out on Sanjay, said police. Sushanta thrashed Sanjay, who retaliated in a fit of rage and struck him with a wooden batten. "He collapsed and never woke up," said an officer. The fatal injury may have been from the blow or the fall, the officer said.

Damodharan said he got calls from Sushanta's younger brother and Sanjay's elder brother from Bhemtia village in Jalpaiguri in northern Bengal. "Both said that Sushanta was sent to Kasaragod hoping that Sanjay would mend his ways," he said. "Sanjay has been with me for eight years. A mild-mannered man."

The family hoped Sanjay would be spared, but police said the law must take its course. If convicted, Sanjay would face up to 10 years in prison — for killing the man he was meant to reform.