Birbhum violence: Day after registering FIR, CBI team reaches spot to probe case

A 15-member CBI team, led by deputy inspector general of police (DIG) Akhilesh Singh, on Saturday reached Rampurhat village in West Bengal to probe the Birbhum violence that left eight people dead late on Monday evening.

The team also included Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) experts from New Delhi according to news agency ANI.

On Friday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered an FIR into the Birbhum killings, hours after it was directed by the Calcutta high court to take over the case.

According to officials familiar with the matter, the case was registered under sections 302 (murder), 326 (attack dangerous weapons), 435 (damage to property by fire), 436 (destroy a house by fire) and 449 (house-trespass to commit a crime), among others, of Indian Penal Code.

A team of experts from the CFSL had also visited the spot, to collect samples.

Eight people, including two children, were charred to death when huts were set ablaze in Bogtui village, in what is suspected to be the violent fallout of the murder of a ruling TMC panchayat official Bhadu Sheikh. Four people, who sustained burn injuries, are undergoing treatment at a state-run hospital in Rampurhat.

The incident, which is believed to have been caused by an ongoing feud between two rival groups belonging to the TMC and triggered a massive political row across the state, was being probed by a special investigation team (SIT) formed by the West Bengal government on Tuesday.

On Friday, TMC leader Anarul Hossain was remanded to 14-day police custody after police informed a Birbhum court that he is the main conspirator behind the killings.

Hossain, TMC’s community block unit president at Rampurhat, was arrested on Thursday following orders from chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The 61-year-old, Banerjee alleged, had not paid proper attention to the apprehension of locals about a possible disturbance in the area, leading to the carnage.