Charge sheet against union minister in Bengal

A charge sheet was filed in a court in West Bengal's Murshidabad district Friday against Minister of State for Railways Adhir Chowdhury in connection with the murder of a Trinamool Congress worker over two years ago.

The charge sheet was framed against Chowdhury, a senior Congress leader, and eight others in the Baharampur court by police probing the killing of Kalam Sheikh May 15, 2011.

With police declaring Chowdhury as "absconding", the court issued an arrest warrant.

The charges were framed against the accused under section 307 (attempt to murder), 302 (murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy), as also under the arms Act and the Explosive Substances Act.

Police said the charge sheet was filed after prima facie evidence was found against Chowdhury by the probe team.

Angry over the development, the Youth Congress has decided to take out rallies in Baharampur.

The State Congress in a statement said Chowdhury was being framed on trumped-up charges and declared it would launch protests outside every police station.

"This is a conspiracy against Chowdhury. We had a hunch the government could take such an unjust step. This is wrong. This is politically motivated," said state Congress chief Pradip Bhattacharya.