The Trinamul Congress, Siliguri Town-III Block Committee, has denied allegations that the mother of a man accused of sexually assaulting and murdering a nine-year-old girl has links with the ruling party. Surajit Sarkar, who is in his mid twenties, was arrested on 28 January after the body of Julie Mahato was found on the terrace of a four-storey building they live in at Janta Nagar in Ward-44 in Siliguri early on 26 January.

Police sources have said that Surajit’s mother, Sumati Sarkar, may have tried to hide or destroy evidence to save her son. Mrs Sarkar is also allegedly a local leader of the Trinamul Congress. “The mother of the man accused in the murder of the minor girl is not involved with the ruling party,” president of the TMC Town-III Block Committee, Joydeep Nandi, said.

Mrs Sarkar is also the owner of the building at Janta Nagar where the crime was committed. It is alleged that the building was used as a Trinamul booth during an election campaign, which led to speculations that she was linked with the ruling party. “We do not know if her house was used during the election campaigns.

If any residence is used during such campaigns, a stipulated rent is paid, but it does not prove that the owner is associated with a particular outfit. A blame game is being played on this issue,” said Mr Nandi. Police investigations have further revealed that Mrs Sarkar had scripted statements of her son Surajit. “His statements were contradictory and frequently changing, in their effort to suppress the fact.

It has been found that his mother directed him what to tell the police,” police sources said. Meanwhile, BJP leader Locket Chatterjee said there was no security for women in the state. “There has been no security for women in Bengal.

Police are arresting people who are protesting the incident, and they are charging batons on them, but they should have acted properly against those who are involved in the heinous crime,” Ms Chatterjee said on the Janta Nagar murder, as she arrived at the Bagdogra Airport on Wednesday.

She later headed for Cooch Behar district from there. Ms Chatterjee and other leaders were arrested when she was leading a protest rally against the sexual assault and the murder of Julie in Kolkata on Monday. The BJP has taken up the issue at the state level.

Meanwhile, eight persons, including a woman, who were arrested in connection with the attack on the police at Janta Nagar on 28 January, were granted bail by the Jalpaiguri court on Wednesday.