In a major development in the Rampurhat massacre case in which six women and two children were burnt to death following the murder of a Trinamool gram panchayat leader, the Calcutta High Court on April 25 ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the incident in the "interest of justice", "fair investigation" and to "instill confidence in the society". The State government will not be carrying out any further investigation on the matter, and the CBI will have to submit a progress report before the court on April 7.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj observed, "...We are of the opinion that facts and circumstances of the case demand that in the interest of justice and to instill confidence in the society and to have fair investigation to dig out the truth it is necessary to hand over the investigation to the CBI. Accordingly, we direct the State government to forthwith hand over the investigation of the case to CBI."
Earlier, the State government had set up a special investigation team (SIT) comprising Gyanwant Singh, Additional Director General of the Crime Investigation Department (ADG CID); B.L. Meena, Inspector General (IG) of the Burdwan Zone; and Meeraj Khalid, Deputy Inspector General (DIG CID (Ops)) to look into the incident. The court in its order made it clear that the SIT and the State police would not carry out any further investigation in the matter. The court said: "The CBI will not only be handed over the case papers but also the accused and suspects who were arrested in the matter and in custody. Hence, we direct the CBI to forthwith take over the investigation in the case and submit the progress report before us on the next date of hearing." According to the judges, the incident has "shaken the conscience of the society" and has "a nationwide ramification".
Mamata's visit
On March 21, Bhadu Sheikh, an influential Trinamool panchayat leader, was killed in a bomb attack in the Rampurhat in West Bengal's Birbhum district. In the retaliatory violence, eight people — six women and two children — were burnt to death, as miscreants set fire to several houses in Bogtui village in the region. On March 24, at the direction of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had gone to meet the bereaved families, Anarul Hossein, the Trinamool block president in the region, was arrested for not responding to the plea of the local people to deploy the police for their protection after Bhadu Sheikh's murder. The Chief Minister also charged the local police for not carrying out their duties. "If they had done their jobs properly then this would not have happened," said Mamata Banerjee.
While the opposition parties — the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Left and the Congress — have welcomed the High Court order, the ruling Trinamool Congress has laid down certain conditions, which if not fulfilled by the CBI during its investigation, it will begin a mass agitation. The Trinamool has been maintaining that the Rampurhat violence was a part of a “greater conspiracy to tarnish the image of the State and malign the government". Following the High Court order, the party, through its spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, issued certain demands before the CBI. "We demand that the CBI does a proper investigation. The State police was on the right path, and was doing all that was needed to be done. We will cooperate with the CBI, but if justice is not delivered; if there is an effort to save the BJP; or an attempt to shield the greater conspiracy; if at the instance of the BJP there is an effort to indulge in politics of vendetta... then there will be protest and mass agitation," said Ghosh.
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