Calcutta HC Orders West Bengal Police To Hand Over Birbhum Violence Case To CBI
Mumbai: The Calcutta High Court has asked the West Bengal Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) to hand over the Birbhum violence case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The Calcutta High Court had ordered a CBI inquiry into the Birbhum massacre. The court asked the SIT set up by the West Bengal government to hand over the case papers and hand over the arrested people to the central agency. Also Read: Birbhum Violence: TMC Block President Anarul Hussain Arrested After Mamata’s Order
The court has asked the CBI to file a progress report in the case by April 7.
The development comes a day after the autopsy report of the deceased revealed that eight people, including three women and two children, who were brutally thrashed by perpetrators of the heinous crime, were burnt alive in Bogtui village of West Bengal’s Birbhum district. Also Read: WB CM Mamata Banerjee Meets Family Of Those Killed In Birbhum Violence Gives ₹5 Lakh Relief
News agency PTI quoted an official of Rampurhat Hospital as saying that forensic experts after preliminary investigation have concluded that those killed in the violence were first severely beaten up and then burnt alive. Forensic experts said this after examining bodies recovered from inside houses that were allegedly burnt by unidentified people in the early hours of Tuesday.
The West Bengal Police has so far arrested around 20 suspects in connection with the murders. The violence is believed to have erupted after the killing of a local Trinamool leader on Monday evening.
Following the incident, the state government fired several police personnel and civil volunteers, alleging negligence.
The authorities have also tightened security in Rampurhat to prevent a recurrence of the violence. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reached the village on Thursday to meet the local people.
While Mamata has promised strict action against the perpetrators despite her affiliation with her party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the killings as “heinous”.
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