The Calcutta High Court had taken suo motu cognizance of the violence in Rampurhat area of Birbhum in West Bengal, that eight people dead and ordered the state government to protect witnesses to the incident.
The two-judge bench, consisting Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj directed the state police to produce the case diary and provide a report on progress of investigation by 2 pm on Thursday.
A two-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday ordered the West Bengal government to protect witnesses to the violence that occurred in Birbhum on Tuesday.
It also directed the police to preserve the crime scene and asked surveillance cameras be installed at the incident spot. It directed the DGP and IG of Police to ensure witnesses to the violence were “adequately protected and not threatened or influenced by anyone”
The court declared “truth must come out”. It noted that if postmortem was yet to be done on any victim, the procedure must be recorded on video, The police was also told to inform the court on whether videography was done for all postmortems done in the case so far.
The court also directed that a team from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory should visit the incident site for collection of evidence without any delay.
The court also asked Advocate General Soumendranath Mukhopadhyay whether the investigation should be handed over to the CBI. To this, the AG replied that the state government had set up an SIT just a day before and if the police fails, then a CBI probe can be considered.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she would visit the district on Thursday. She assured “strict action will be taken against all those responsible for the Birbhum incident, irrespective of their (political) colours.”
Mamata said she had postponed her visit by a day as “other political parties were already huddling there”, alluding to a BJP delegation’s visit on Wednesday.
BJP demand President’s rule
Leader of the opposition in West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, who on Wednesday led a delegation of BJP leaders to Rampurhat in Birbhum district of the state, sought President’s rule in the state, saying only that can save Bengal. He also demanded an NIA or CBI probe into the incident.
“It is a very unfortunate incident, no words are sufficient to condemn it. Calcutta High Court has given directions to Central forensics. We demand NIA or CBI probe. SIT is a wing of state government. The chief minister is trying to save the government,” he said.
Bengal BJP MP Arjun Singh said there is an atmosphere of terror in Birbhum and the villages are deserted. “Shameful that this government let several innocent people die. Police did nothing. Mamata Banerjee should resign immediately and this case should be handed over to CBI or NIA.”
