Kolkata, Feb 23: A Sashastra Seema Bal commandant, arrested on murder charge by West Bengal police, was freed by his fellow personnel on Friday. The accused, however, was nabbed again by the police hours after he fled away.

The commandant, DK Singh, along with another SSB constable Amit Singh was arrested for killing one Altaf Jamadar for his alleged involvement in a fake currency racket.

Singh managed to escape after the officials at Diamond Harbour police station in Kolkata were taking him for the medical test at the local government hospital.

Enroute to the hospital, the police team was confronted by two cars with SSB personnel on board. Singh, on pretext of meeting them went near the car. Suddenly, he jumped into one of the cars, which fled away with him, reported Hindustan Times.

Singh was rearrested after the police took the matter to SSB Inspector General of Siliguri Frontier, Srikumar Bandyopadhyay.

Bandopadhya ordered the SSB personnel to handover Singh's custody to the West Bengal police.

Bandopadhya, while speaking to reporters, said SSB does not approve such "unlawful actions". "I immediately ordered my men to hand him (Singh) over to the police after learning about the incident," he added.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also condemned the actions of the SSB personnel, saying the incident is "highly deplorable". "Law and order is a state subject. It is unthinkable of SSB snatching away a murder accused from the police," she said.

Singh, who was posted by SSB at Barasat camp, claims he had went to Sarisha in South 24 Parganas "to probe a fake currency racket".

During police interrogation, he admitted murdering Jamadar, an alleged counterfeit currency operative. However, Singh alleged that the deceased fired upon him first, which compelled him to shoot in retaliation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 23, 2018 06:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).