Debyani’s family had blamed a senior member of SFI, Arka Poddar, for the murder and had filed an FIR on Sunday. The police, however, are yet to arrest him.

Superintendent of Police (Bankura) Vishal Garg said Poddar was absconding and added that they were investigating all aspects related to the case.

Caught in an unusual situation where both the victim and accused are members of the SFI, the state committee members of the group have denied that they had any kind of interaction with Poddar after the murder took place.

At a press conference on August 13, Kaustav Chatterjee, a state SFI committee said, “We have neither given a clean chit nor have considered anyone guilty. Neither the relatives of the girl nor Poddar has contacted us after the incident.” Local SFI workers had also protested against Poddar at Bankura.

“We don’t know whether Poddar is absconding or not. He was in touch with us about a week ago. We are waiting for the police report to take a decision on the issue,” he added.