Birbhum violence: Calcutta High Court registers suo motu case

On Wednesday, the Calcutta High Court registered a suo motu case in the incident of violence at Rampurhat in West Bengal's Birbhum district in which eight people died. A bench headed by the Chief Justice will hear the matter today at 2 pm, ANI reported.

Earlier, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar deplored Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in a 3-page letter which suggested that there was a political conspiracy behind the violence.

"This is a ruse to shield the guilty of the ghastly crime. Already enough is in circulation about perpetrators of this savagery. Further, your assurance that "investigation will make all-out efforts to unearth all those who are behind the occurrence of the incident" is a far cry from reality," he said, adding that "Politically caged" investigation in the state inspires no confidence.

At least 23 persons have been held in connection with the violence in West Bengal’s Birbhum district since Monday night that left nine people dead, including a panchayat leader of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

While one was held in connection with the bomb attack that killed Bhadu Sheikh, the deputy chief of the Barshal gram panchayat, at least 22 persons were nabbed in connection with the death of eight persons in the same village after their houses were set on fire following Sheikh’s murder.

Police lodged two separate cases for the deaths, while the state government formed a special investigation team (SIT) and removed two local police officers from duty on Tuesday.

“It was personal enmity between two groups that might have led to the murder of Bhadu Sheikh. No political rivalry was involved in this,” Director General of West Bengal police Manoj Malviya said on Tuesday.

The Union Home Ministry on Tuesday sought a report from the West Bengal government after eight people were found burnt to death in Birbhum district, officials said.

The move came after a nine-member delegation of BJP MPs from West Bengal met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and sought his intervention and action against the perpetrators of the crime.

Eight persons, including two children, died in the early hours of Tuesday after their houses were gutted in a fire in Rampurhat in Birbhum district.

The incident took place hours after the murder of a Trinamool Congress panchayat leader on Monday, DGP Manoj Malaviya told reporters in Kolkata. Malaviya said seven charred bodies were recovered from one of the burnt houses, while one injured person died in hospital.