Birbhum Violence: Calcutta HC Orders Bengal Police To Hand Over Case To CBI, Report To Be Submitted By April 7

A Bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj observed that in the interest of justice the ongoing probe should be transferred to the CBI. The court said that circumstantial evidence and the impact of the incident indicate state police cannot probe the case.

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Friday transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) the investigation into the violence in Birbhum district of West Bengal, in which 8 persons were killed allegedly in retaliation to the murder of local All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Bhadu Sheikh.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj on Friday observed that in the interest of justice and considering the circumstances of the instant case, the ongoing probe should be transferred to the CBI. The court said that circumstantial evidence and the impact of the incident indicate state police cannot probe the case.

“Accordingly, we direct the State Government to forthwith hand over the investigation to the CBI. We also direct State authorities to extend full cooperation to the CBI in carrying out investigation,” the Bench said.

The CBI has been directed to submit a progress report on the next date of hearing i.e. on April 7. The Court also turned down the request by the State to stay the order to enable it to file an appeal against the same.

Birbhum violence

On Tuesday, Bhadu Sheikh- a Trinamool Congress Panchayat leader was killed by unidentified assailants. Following this, at least eight people, including two juveniles, were charred to death after nearly a dozen houses were set on fire with petrol bombs in Rampurhat’s Bogtui village.

Till now, at least 22 arrests have been made by police. As per the post-mortem report of the victims, the women and children were badly beaten up before being burnt alive.

Enraged by the incident, BJP has demanded Mamata Banerjee to resign as Bengal CM. BJP’s National Vice President Dilip Ghosh acknowledged that Birbhum is a sensitive region where political violence is at its peak and opposition parties are targeted every day. Noting that more than 200 BJP workers have been killed so far in the state, Ghosh questioned why the Mamata Banerjee-led government was taking no action.