If the CBI adopts the BJP’s diktats, the ‘conspiracy’ behind the Birbhum killings will protest Mamata Banerjee.
She also stated that the CBI had ‘failed’ to give justice in many previous cases and that the SIT had performed a better investigation.
Following the murder of a local TMC politician in Birbhum, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declared on Sunday that the deaths of eight people, including women and children, were the result of a “plot.” She further stated that the Trinamool Congress would protest if the CBI “follows the dictates of the BJP” while conducting the investigation.
“I still believe there is a conspiracy behind the Rampurhat incident,” Banerjee said at an event in Bagdogra, north Bengal. It was a wise decision to turn the investigation over to the CBI. We will be prepared to demonstrate if they merely follow the BJP’s orders.”
What caused the massacre in Rampurhat, a West Bengal village?
In Bogtui village, Rampurhat, a late-night fire killed eight persons on Monday, just hours after bike-borne miscreants slew a Trinamool Congress panchayat deputy head.
Until Tuesday evening, eleven people had been arrested by the state administration, which had constituted a special investigation team overseen by the CID’s additional director-general.
Rampurhat sub-divisional police officer Sayan Ahmed and Rampurhat police station inspector-in-charge Tridib Pramanik were fired by Gyanwant Singh. Manoj Malaviya, the state director general of police, has left for the scene, roughly 225 kilometres from Kolkata.
The Union home ministry also deploys a second investigation team, led by a joint-secretary officer.
Officials said the Centre had also requested a report on the incident from the state administration.
The eight killings generated a political blame game. They were the highest toll in a single incident reported in Bengal since the nine deaths in West Midnapore’s Netai on January 7, 2011. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reacted angrily to governor Jagdeep Dhankhar’s claim that the “arson orgy” showed Bengal was “trapped in a culture of violence and lawlessness.”
The governor made a statement that was “very impolite,” “sweeping,” and “uncalled for” are just a few of the phrases that come to mind.
Banerjee said Dhankhar’s behaviour was “unbecoming” of the state’s constitutional chief, asking him to quit making “unwarranted assertions” and allow for an “impartial probe” and “exemplary punishment” for anyone found guilty. A+ “She noted that a bigger political plot to undermine the state could not be ruled out. In Kolkata, DGP Malaviya stated that all angles were being investigated. “It’s possible.
retaliation, but the murder is unrelated to politics, “Personal hatred could not be ruled out, he added. “The situation has been brought under control. Within an hour of the murder, whatever took place within an hour of the murder. The investigation is focused on the cause of the fire, “Added he.
The state SIT also included Burdwan range inspector general Bharat Lal Meena and CID deputy inspector general (operations) Meeraj Khalid.
According to Trinamool worker, a band of 10-12 miscreants came on bikes and hurled bombs at the Barshal gramme panchayat deputy head while he sat on his scooter and spoke on his phone Lalan Sheikh, who witnessed Bhadu Sheikh’s murder.
“The perpetrators departed immediately after their hit operation,” he added, accusing peasants like Chhoto Lalan and Palash Sheikh of refusing to “accept Bhadu’s ascendancy in local politics,” Lalan stated Bhadu was from Bogtui Paschimpara, and his assailants were from Bogtui Purbapara. According to other villagers, Bhadu’s brother, Babar, was assassinated. “On the phone just two days earlier, Palash and his associates threatened us,” Lalan added.
Whose properties were targeted?
According to the FIR, an “unruly mob ransacked the homes of eight people and set fire to them to kill the people inside and their families.”
The residences of a group of five brothers I Mihilal Sheikh, (ii) Seklal Sheikh, (iii) Bani Sheikh, (iv) Neklal Sheikh, and (v) Mineral Sheikh) were among the eight burned homes. Another set of brothers, (vi) Sona Sheikh and (vii) Fatik Sheikh, owned two more, while (viii) Mobina Bibi confessed the last.
“Bhadu and Sona were close associates,” said Ummati, Sona Sheikh’s Bogtui neighbour. They were almost brothers when they used to work together. Bhadu even assisted Sona in the construction of his home. The building has been done for just over a year.”
“Bhadu, Sona, and Palash were all associates,” public prosecutor Surajit Sinha told ThePrint. Sand tractors and sand quarries used to be a side business for them. The case is one of personal animosity between the three over money, which resulted in this heinous violence.”
Sona Sheikh was one of the seven persons found burned to death in his home, which had been plundered and set ablaze. (Another person died in the hospital, bringing the total to eight.) On the other hand, Palash was identified in the FIR filed in the murder of Bhadu Sheikh, and his whereabouts are unknown.
The police also noted that the seven bodies recovered from the debris were unrecognisable in the FIR. According to the state’s plea to the Calcutta High Court on Thursday, their postmortems were conducted at Rampurhat Hospital and videotaped.
Several charred goods, including straw, kitchenware, books, a chair, half-burned bamboo, broken glass and a black suit, were taken from the homes.
A CBI team arrived in Bogtui on Saturday morning and began gathering evidence. On April 7, the Calcutta High Court ordered the central agency to provide a status report.
‘No one dares to go to Bogtui or take a chance with any of the people who live there.’
While arguing before a local court, Another media outlet spoke with public prosecutor Surajit Sinha, a Rampurhat native representing the state in “the most heinous crime Rampurhat has ever experienced.”
“Bogtui has been known for violence before my birth, and perhaps even before that.” Even children in Rampurhat carry firearms in their pockets, as does everyone else in the town. “No one dares to go to Bogtui or take a chance with any of the people who live there,” he claimed.
“Bhadu was the deputy chief of Barshal gram panchayat,” Sinha remarked when asked about Bhadu Sheikh’s influence in the area. Palash and Sona were two of his closest aides.
They would collect money from sand quarries and tractors transporting the sand in this area, lending money to other people, and charging high interest.
“That money was split among the three, which is where the animosity arose. Bhadu was in charge of deciding who got how much money, thus he became a target.”
In Bogtui, Bhadu Sheikh had two residences. While he built a one-story house within the town, he also erected a well-made, two-story white-and-blue house near the village’s entrance, about two minutes’ walk from the National Highway where he was murdered with crude bombs.
Bhadu Sheikh also had a garage business in this House where he sold electronic equipment such as pedestal fans, coolers, and refrigerators. His House is only ten steps away from that of the sub-divisional police officer, who Mamata Banerjee has also suspended for allegedly failing to carry identification.
Roopa Ganguly of the BJP requests President’s Rule in Bengal over the fatalities in Birbhum.
Roopa Ganguly, a BJP Rajya Sabha member, demanded President’s Rule in Bengal on Friday in the aftermath of violence and murders in the state’s Birbhum district, prompting a prominent protest TMC members and a brief suspension of House activities.
Ganguly sobbed as she spoke about the burning to death of eight people, including two children, in Bogtui village in Birbhum, claiming that being born in West Bengal is not a crime. She highlighted the subject during the Zero Hour (morning session) and urged that President’s Rule be enforced in the state.
“(People) were burned to death… According to the postmortem report, there is no trust in the police,” Ganguly added, adding that the victims were first abused and imprisoned before being burned to death. She referred to the tragedy as “mass killings” and said more “political killings” had occurred in the state.
“India includes West Bengal. It is not a safe place to live. In the state of West Bengal, I, Roopa Ganguly, seek President’s Rule. We have a legal right to exist. Being born in West Bengal is not a crime “As she sobbed, the BJP member said. She further stated that residents are fleeing the neighbourhood due to the tragedy.
As soon as she raised the issue, Trinamool Congress (TMC) members began protesting and refuting the claims.
Some of them gathered around the well, shouting slogans. Members of the Treasury benches took part in counter-sloganeering as well. Harivansh, the Deputy Chairman, attempted to restore order in the House, but the protestors were unyielding. The proceedings were subsequently deferred for around 25 minutes, until 12.10 p.m., by the deputy chairman. Following the brief recess, the House resumed its scheduled Question Hour. In Bogtui village, eight people, including two children, were burnt to death after killing a TMC panchayat officer.
Who is Anarul Hossain, the TMC Leader from Birbhum who was arrested for the Birbhum Carnage?
On Friday, March 25, Anarul Hossain, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) block president from Rampurhat, was brought before the Rampurhat sub-divisional court after claiming to have surrendered to the police. In connection with grisly killings in Bogtui village in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, the leader was detained on March 24. He was charged with murder, arson, rioting with lethal weapons, criminal conspiracy, and other crimes.
After at least eight persons were killed on Tuesday, March 22, as miscreants burned down many houses, Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee paid a visit to Birbhum and issued an appeal urging the police to arrest the block president in the region. Victims’ relatives accused Hossain of dismissing reports of violence in the area.
The 61-year-old local politician is from the Sandhipur neighbourhood of Rampurhat, where he worked as a mason before entering politics.
According to local accounts, he was a Congress supporter who progressively shifted his support to the Banerjee-led party following its creation. After gaining a reputation as a talented organiser, Hossain reportedly became an acquaintance of Rampurhat MLA and former Minister of State Ashish Bandyopadhyay.
Sona Sheikh, Mihilal Sheikh, Fatik Sheikh, and Banirul Sheikh – allegedly distant relatives of late TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh – had their homes set ablaze earlier this week to punish Sheikh’s suspected murder 21.
Bhadu Sheikh was a TMC leader who was elected to the Barshal gram panchayat and was voted unopposed as deputy chief in 2018. The slaughter took place in Bogtui hamlet, part of Hossain’s organisational region. According to neighbours and relatives of those killed, Hossain frequently communicated with the area’s administrative officials, but he ignored pleas of urgency as the violence escalated.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to investigate the case, and eleven persons have been arrested. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs had also requested a report on the violent incident from the state administration.
Calcutta High Court has handed the case of the Birbhum killings to the CBI.
The West Bengal advocate general asked the court to halt the order’s implementation, but the bench denied the request. On Friday, the Calcutta High Court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate the violence in West Bengal’s Birbhum area, which resulted in the deaths of eight persons, according to the Bar and Bench. The CBI is also looking into instances of violence that erupted in Bengal following the announcement of election results in May.
On March 22, eight people died in Bogtui village in Birbhum district after their homes were set on fire after the alleged murder of a panchayat leader of the ruling Trinamool Congress. The state attorney general petitioned the court to halt the order’s implementation on Friday, but the bench denied the plea.
The court ordered the West Bengal Police’s Special Investigation Team to stop looking into it, investigating the case. The CBI has also been instructed to produce a progress report by April 7, the next scheduled hearing date. The court reserved its decision after hearing arguments from the petitioner and the state administration on Thursday.
The petition was put under suo motu consideration by a bench consisting of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj. Anindya Kumar Das, a lawyer, has also filed a public interest lawsuit, requesting that the case be turned over to the CBI or the National Investigation Agency.
The National Human Rights Commission took notice of the occurrence in Bogtui village on Thursday. The human rights organisation served notices on West Bengal’s chief secretary and the state police, asking them to give detailed reports on the case within four weeks. The National Commission for Women and the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights took notice of the matter on March 23. They requested that the police provide an action taken reports.
Academics, film directors, and students took to the streets to protest the killings in Birbhum.
On Friday evening, a gathering was held in the city without any political banners to denounce the horrible burning of at least eight people in Bogtui village in Birbhum earlier this week, in what appeared to be retaliation for the murder of a ruling Trinamool Congress panchayat deputy head. The event drew people from all walks of life, including students, academics, film directors, and other professionals.
To protest the killings, the participants walked from Moulali in central Kolkata to Jorasanko Thakurbari, the Tagore family’s ancestral home in the north, demanding justice for the victims’ relatives. The gathering included academician Pabitra Sarkar, film directors Anik Dutta, Kamaleswar Mukhopadhyay, and others.
“The perpetrators of the horrific crime must be arrested and brought to justice,” Sarkar added.
People should rise above political and personal concerns, according to Mukhopadhyay, and join protests against the killings. Participants waved posters and banners describing the act as a terrible one. Kolkata’s intelligentsia has a long history of taking to the streets to protest issues that aren’t political.
The previous Left Front government had also faced several such protests, including one over the shooting of protestors in Nandigram. The CPI(M)-led government had planned to be part of a new national security strategy.
‘We are ready to protest if the CBI follows the BJP’s orders,’ West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee says of the Birbhum violence case.
On Tuesday, a mob allegedly set houses on fire in the Rampurhat area of West Bengal’s Birbhum, murdering eight people after the killing of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Bhadu Sheikh, the village’s local deputy president. The matter being handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
On Sunday, Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, said she is prepared to protest if the CBI follows the BJP’s lead in the Birbhum violence case, claiming of her belief that the incident was the result of a conspiracy.
On Tuesday, a mob allegedly set houses on fire in the Rampurhat area of West Bengal’s Birbhum, murdering eight people after the killing of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Bhadu Sheikh, the village’s local deputy president.
Following a Calcutta High Court ruling, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the investigation into the Birbhum violence case on Saturday. The court ordered the West Bengal government’s SIT to hand over case materials and accused persons apprehended by it to the central investigation agency on Friday.
Banerjee hailed it a “wonderful decision” when speaking at an event but added, “if they only follow the BJP’s directives, we are ready to protest.”
“I still think there is a conspiracy behind the Rampurhat incident. CBI took over the charge, It is a good decision..”
— ANI (@ANI) March 27, 2022
“I still believe the Rampurhat event was the result of a plot,” she stated.
The CM went on to criticise the state government and the opposition. “Another party member assassinated a member of the Trinamool Congress. However, TMC is the only one who is being chastised everywhere. “We’ve taken several efforts to look into the situation and figure out what caused the Rampurhat tragedy in the first place,” Banerjee added.
Suvendu Adhikari, the Politician of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly and a BJP leader, mounted a protest with party workers in front of the SDO office in Rampurhat on Saturday demanding Mamata Banerjee’s resignation and intervention from the Centre.
On Friday, the Calcutta High Court ordered the CBI to investigate the killings in Bogtui hamlet in Birbhum, where eight people were burned alive earlier this week, and submit a preliminary report on April 7, when the case would be heard again. The court ordered the state administration to “provide complete cooperation to the CBI in carrying out the subsequent inquiry.”
