Bid to murder charge on TMC man

The Garden Reach cop’s murder case took a fresh twist on Wednesday when a case against Trinamul Congress councillor of ward No. 134 Mohammed Iqbal, alias Munna, was registered. He has been slapped with charges of inciting mob and attempt to murder after his presence and direct role in the violence was established through television footage. He is, however, yet to be arrested. Minutes before special branch officer Tapas Chowdhury was shot on Tuesday, Iqbal was seen leading party activists with revolvers to assemble near Harimohan Ghose College and mobilising them up for a showdown. Among his followers was Sheikh Subhan, the alleged assailant who fired upon the sub-inspector (SI) and prime accused in the case. He was standing next to him. When a police officer standing in the middle of the road was making announcement through a hand-held microphone asking Mr Iqbal’s group to leave the area, he was spotted threatening him with a slap. However, Mr Iqbal, who is also the chairman of borough committee No. 15, remained untouched by the police throughout the day in the aftermath of the violence though Subhan and 11 others were arrested by night. Mr Iqbal’s closeness with state urban development minister Firhad Hakim led the top brass at Lalbazar not to take the risk of bringing him even under the under scanner, sources revealed. When Mr Hakim had visited the violence-torn area, Mr Iqbal was seen accompanying him. Mr Hakim had even claimed that Chowdhury had received bullet injuries while trying to save Mr Iqbal who he said was standing away from the spot on the police’s instruction.