A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Friday ordered the judicial custody of four individuals, including three former police personnel and a Trinamul Congress (TMC) worker, in connection with the 2021 murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activist Abhijit Sarkar in Kolkata’s Kankurgachi area. The court directed that the four accused — former officer-in-charge of Narkeldanga Police Station Subhajit Sen, then sub-inspector Ratna Sarkar, home guard Dipankar Debnath, and TMC worker Sujata De — be remanded in judicial custody until 31 July. One of the officers has since retired. The CBI is probing the case, which stems from violence that erupted in West Bengal following the announcement of the state assembly election results in May 2021. Sarkar, a prominent member of the BJP-affiliated labour wing, was killed on the day of the election results. The latest arrests come days after the CBI filed a charge sheet naming 18 individuals in connection with the case. The three police personnel were not initially named in the charge sheet but appeared in court on Thursday and surrendered. Sarkar’s brother, Biswajit Sarkar, welcomed the court’s move but criticized the earlier inaction by local police. “Despite being named in complaints, the officer-in-charge was never taken into custody or investigated by the Kolkata Police, which instead promoted him,” he told reporters outside the court. Reacting to the development, West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said, “This should serve as a lesson for those police officers who act as agents of the ruling TMC instead of upholding the Constitution.” Violence following the 2021 assembly polls led to several political and criminal investigations, with the BJP accusing the TMC of targeting its workers across the state — a charge the TMC has consistently denied. The case remains under investigation.