Birbhum Killings: CBI Makes First Arrest, Nabs Four Suspects From Mumbai

CBI has nabbed as many as four suspects in connection with the case. All four accused have been arrested in Mumbai.

Police force guard in front of the burned house at Bogtui village of Birbhum district in Kolkata. (File Photo/ Getty)

Kolkata: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday made the first arrests in the Birbhum violence where ten people including five women and two children, were assaulted and then burnt to death last month.

According to reports, the central agency has nabbed as many as four suspects in connection with the case. All four accused have been arrested in Mumbai, news agency PTI reported.

The Birbhum killings are alleged to be retaliation after a local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader, Bhadu Sheikh, was killed in a crude bomb attack. 

Currently, CBI is probing the killings following an intervention by the Calcutta High Court.

According to a report by news agency IANS, CBI has prepared a list in which 21 people, including Trinamool Congress' block president Anarul Hossain, have been named as accused in the case.

Even West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday had ordered the arrest of Trinamool Congress leader Hossain for his involvement in the carnage.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and others in Bengal have accused the ruling Trinamool Congress of sheltering the accused. BJP has accused Banerjee of trying to cover up the incident, while TMC has denied all the charges levelled against it.

After Calcutta HC's order to transfer the case to CBI, the 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 set several houses afire.

The next day, Bengal police recovered charred bodies of persons, including children and women from a gutted house.