Birbhum Killings: CBI Report Says Violence Carried Out in ‘Planned And Organised Manner’

The violence in the region killed as many as nine people in March 2022. The case was overtaken by CBI later that month and a case was registered on March 25.

CBI has submitted its preliminary report in Birbhum violence | Getty Images

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation submitted its preliminary report on the investigation of the Birbhum violence case on Friday evening in which it stated that the violence was a “direct fallout” of the murder of TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh on the same day, news agency PTI reported.

The more than 20-page long preliminary report also stated that the violence was carried out in a “planned and organised manner” and seven persons whose charred bodies were found in a burnt house in Bogtui were “assaulted before being burnt alive.”

Birbhum killings direct fallout of TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh's murder, carried out in planned and organised manner: CBI in its preliminary report

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 8, 2022

“The brutal incident of burning and killings at Bogtui is the direct fallout of the killing of one Bhadu Shiekh at Bogtui More on the same day (March 21) at 8.30 pm,” the report was quoted by PTI.

“After the killing of Bhadu Sheikh, his close associates and members of his group went berserk, formed unlawful assembly, and in furtherance of their common object, started burning the houses and killing the family members of the rival group in a very planned and organised manner,” it said.

The central agency’s investigation found out that the rivalry between the two groups was “long-standing” and it included Bhadu Sheikh on one side and Palash Sheikh and Sona Sheikh on the other side.

The cause of the rivalry as explained by CBI was due to “their previous enmity for dominance in the local area and for control over income from the illegal collection of money from commercial vehicles and other illegal activities.”

The violence in the region killed as many as nine people in March 2022. The case was overtaken by CBI later that month and a case was registered on March 25. So far the CBI has arrested four people in relation to the case.