Calcutta HC Reserves Verdict On Birbhum Violence

This came a day after the Calcutta High Court took suo motu cognizance of the killing of eight people at Bogtui village.

(Image: PTI)

New Delhi: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday reserved its verdict in connection with the violence in West Bengal’s Birbhum district.

This came a day after the Calcutta High Court took suo motu cognizance of the killing of eight people at Bogtui village.

Declining a prayer for a Central Burau of Investigation (CBI) into the matter, the High Court division bench had on Wednesday directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to produce the case diary and other relevant documents before it by 2 p.m. on Thursday.

The High Court instructed the Director General of Police (DGP) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to provide security to the vulnerable witnesses.

The High Court also directed the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory (CFSL), Delhi, to visit the crime scene and collect evidence.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rampurhat-1 block president Anarul Hossain was arrested in connection with the killing of eight people at Bogtui village.

Earlier in the day, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee visited the Bogtui village and met the kin of those killed in the violence.

She handed over a cheque of Rs five lakh to the kin of those killed in the violence.

Alleging a bigger conspiracy, Banerjee said: “The police will ensure strictest punishment is handed out to culprits responsible for the Rampurhat carnage.”

The TMC supremo, who had earlier described the violence in Birbhum district as “unfortunate”, alleged that “something big” was behind the killings.

The post-mortem examination of the eight people, including three women and two children, burnt alive by a mob earlier on Tuesday at Bogtui village has revealed that they were badly beaten up before the carnage.

The victims, as per preliminary findings of the forensic experts who conducted the tests on the charred bodies found inside the houses that were allegedly set on fire by unidentified people early on Tuesday, were first badly beaten up and then burnt alive, news agency PTI reported an official from the Rampurhat hospital as saying.

So far, at least 20 people have been arrested in connection with this incident suspected to have been triggered by a local TMC leader’s killing earlier on Monday evening.