Birbhum violence: HC orders CBI probe into TMC leader's murder
The Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the murder of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Bhadu Sheikh that allegedly resulted in a revenge attack in which nine people were burned alive in West Bengal's Birbhum district on March 21. The HC had earlier also ordered a CBI investigation into the alleged revenge attack in Birbhum's Bogtui village.
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A division bench presided over by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava was requested via petitions to order a CBI investigation into Sheikh's murder, alleging a link between it and the revenge attack. To recall, on March 22, WB's police chief also stated the Bogtui attacks occurred within an hour of the killing of Sheikh—who was murdered at a place just a kilometer away from Bogtui.
CBI arrested four people in connections to killings
The HC's order to transfer Sheikh's murder case from the state police to the CBI for a thorough investigation comes after the arrest of four West Bengal residents from Mumbai on Thursday by the CBI in connection to the Birbhum killings. The people arrested are suspected of being involved in the killings and are the agency's first arrests since it took over the case.
The four arrested fled to Mumbai on March 22
"The four accused had direct involvement in the killings and had fled from Bogtui to Mumbai on March 22," a CBI officer said. "Two persons—identified as Bappa and Shabu Sheikh—were named in an FIR lodged in connection with the killings. The other two were identified as Taj Mohammad and Serajul," he added. The CBI used their mobile tower locations to track and arrest them.
Birbhum killings are a politically sensitive issue
To recall, on March 25, the CBI filed a case against 22 people in connection with the killings in Bogtui, which had led to a war of words between the ruling TMC and the opposition BJP over the law and order situation in West Bengal.
