Purnima Kandu, the wife of a murdered Congress councillor in West Bengal, may have died from poisoning, according to an initial post-mortem report.
Purnima, a Congress councillor from Jhalda Municipality in West Bengal’s Purulia district, was the wife of Tapan Kandu who was shot dead by unknown assailants on an open road in March 2022.
Following her husband’s death, she contested and was elected from the same ward. Tapan was also the Congress councillor from Jhalda Municipality.
According to sources familiar with the development, the initial post-mortem report revealed the presence of poisonous substances in Purnima’s stomach, which could be the cause of her death, news agency IANS reported. However, the sources noted that questions remain about whether she committed suicide by ingesting poison or if someone else poisoned her food.
Meanwhile, suspicion has grown over Purnima’s death after her body was found at her residence on October 11.
Her late husband’s nephew, Mithun Kandu, had raised concerns that she may have been killed by poisoning. Similar worries were expressed by the Congress district president, Nepal Mahato, who stated that her death seemed unnatural since she had not been suffering from any major ailments.
“She was not suffering from any kind of ailment. So we smell something unnatural in her death. However, the exact reason for the death would be ascertained only after the post-mortem report is available. Until then, no possibility can be ruled out,” Mahato had said.
Tapan Kandu’s murder case
The murder case of Tapan Kandu was investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Initially, a special investigation team (SIT) from the Purulia police looked into the matter, but it was later handed over to the CBI.
A total of seven people have been arrested by both the SIT and the CBI in the case, with the first arrest being Tapan’s own nephew, Deepak Kandu. The trial process in the case has already begun.
(With inputs from IANS)
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