Birbhum massacre: CBI sets up camp office in Bengal’s Rampurhat
Local police had lodged a case and had claimed to have arrested 10 people
New Delhi: In a latest development in the Birbhum violence case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has set up a temporary camp office in a government guest house in West Bengal’s Rampurhat.
Following the orders of the Calcutta High Court, a team of forensic experts led by the CBI officials went to Rampurhat and collected samples on March 25.
Before the court order, the local police had lodged a case and had claimed to have arrested 10 people.
The BJP and the others had accused the Trinamool Congress of sheltering the accused. The BJP had accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of trying to cover up the incident. Trinamool had denied all the charges.
After the Calcutta High Court order of handing over the probe to the CBI, the West Bengal government said that they would support the agency in conducting a fair probe.
Bhadu Sheikh, a Trinamool Congress leader and local deputy president of Rampurhat village was killed on March 21 by bike-borne assailants, after which a mob allegedly gutted several houses. Next day, the police recovered the charred bodies of at least eight people, including children and women from a gutted house.
Following the Birbhum violence incident, a drive to seize arms and ammunition have been started in different parts of the state.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the probe of the Birbhum violence case following the Calcutta High Court order.
On Thursday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ordered the arrest of local Trinamool Congress leader Anirul Hossain for his involvement in the carnage, besides slamming the local police for not acting in time.
Three hours after Banerjee ordered the arrest of Trinamool block president for Rampurhat-1, Anarul Hossain, on camera while on a visit to the site of the mayhem, Hossain was taken into custody.
In her statement at the site, Banerjee said, “The kin of the victims said that they had telephoned Anirul and asked him to send police to Bagtui, but he didn’t.”
“I want him arrested. He can surrender, but otherwise I want him to be arrested immediately,” she told the Director General of Police, Manoj Malviya, at Bagtui.
Hossain is the first Trinamool member to be put behind bars for the gruesome violence that was allegedly triggered by the killing of deputy panchayat pradhan Bhadu Sheikh, a local strongman.
A resident of Sandhipur in Hooghly district, Hossain is said to have worked as a mason before he started his political career with the Congress.
In the Trinamool Congress, he is said to have been recognised for garnering grassroots support for the party. He has held the block president’s post since 2018.
Banerjee also slammed the local police for not acting in time and said that the problem could have been averted had the police responded to the calls.
“This incident could have been avoided had the police gone to the spot immediately. They did not fulfil their responsibility. Action must be taken against those who knowingly did not perform their duty,” the Chief Minister said.
However, Banerjee refused to rule out the involvement of outsiders in the violence.
“The police are investigating the matter from all sides. They are probing who all were involved. Was it a local issue or outsiders were also involved in it... The police have to check all the angles,” she said.