As 8 Burnt Alive In Bengal, A Political Firestorm, High Court Steps In
The Calcutta High Court today registered a suo motu case in the incident of violence at Rampurhat in West Bengal’s Birbhum district where eight people were burnt to death following the killing of Trinamool Congress leader Bhadu Sheikh. A bench headed by the Chief Justice will hear the matter today at 2 pm, news agency ANI reported.
The BJP has attacked the ruling Trinamool Congress over the incident, claiming it’s just the latest in a long list of political killings in the state. The party has sought the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and has demanded an investigation into the incident by Central agencies. Nine BJP MPs from West Bengal met Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday and sought his intervention in the matter.
“More than 200 BJP workers have been killed so far in the state. What is the government doing? This can’t be tolerated,” BJP MP Dilip Ghosh told ANI.
At least 20 people have been arrested so far in connection with the violence, a senior police officer said on Wednesday. Eleven people were arrested the same day for their involvement in the incident.
“With nine more arrests, the number of those who have been caught in the case rose to 20. We are grilling them to find out if there were more people involved in the incident. Some accused seem to have fled the village. We are trying to trace them,” news agency PTI quoted the officer. He also stated that forensic experts were examining the ravaged houses to get an idea about the “nature of the mishap”.
Locket Chatterjee, BJP MP from Hooghly, has claimed that about 20 people have been killed in the arson, “but no one knows the actual number because no one is being allowed to enter in Birbhum.”
Earlier today, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in a 3-page letter for suggesting that there was a political conspiracy behind the violence. He also said that the number of casualties may be higher.
Mamata Banerjee had urged the Governor “to refrain from making unwarranted statements and allow the administration to conduct an impartial probe” after he released a video yesterday saying human rights have been “decimated” and rule of law has “capsised” in the state. In an apparent swipe at the ruling party, he had said that the administration is “required to rise above partisan interests” which he claimed was “not being reflected in reality”.
“Your statements have political overtones supporting other political parties to browbeat Bengal government,” Mamata Banerjee had said in response.
In a harshly worded letter today, Mr Dhankhar said that he “cannot ‘fiddle’ in Raj Bhawan and be a mute spectator”.
“This is a ruse to shield the guilty of the ghastly crime. Already enough is in circulation about perpetrators of this savagery. Further, your assurance that “investigation will make all-out efforts to unearth all those who are behind the occurrence of the incident” is a far cry from reality,” the Governor said on Twitter, adding that “Politically caged” investigation in the state inspires no confidence.
The Centre has sought a report on the alleged political violence. The BJP is also sending a fact-finding team to probe the biggest instance of violence since Mamata Banerjee’s mega victory last year.
The burnt bodies of 8 people were found Tuesday morning after houses were set on fire at a village in West Bengal’s Birbhum in protests over the alleged murder of a Trinamool Congress leader.
A Special Investigation Team has been formed to probe the matter. Bengal’s top cop Manoj Malaviya said, “We are investigating how the houses caught fire and whether the incident is related to the death of the panchayat deputy chief of neighbouring Barshal village”.