The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday took suo moto cognisance of arson and violence at a village in Rampurhat of West Bengal's Birbhum district where eight people were burnt to death following the killing of ruling Trinamool Congress leader Bhadu Sheikh.
A division bench headed by the Chief Justice observed that the crime was serious in nature and unfortunate. It directed the West Bengal government to file a status report on the Rampurhat violence by 2 pm tomorrow. The court directed the Mamata Banerjee government to install CCTV cameras in presence of the district judge and 24x7 CCTV surveillance of the scene of occurrence.
The court asked a Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) team from Delhi to visit the spot of the incident and collect the necessary material for forensic examination without any delay.
Besides, it ordered that witnesses in the case should be adequately protected and not threatened or influenced by anyone.
Eight people, including two children, were charred to death as nearly a dozen houses were set ablaze in Bogtui village early on Tuesday in a suspected fallout of the murder of TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh. Bhadu was Barshal village panchayat's deputy chief.
According to police, 11 people were arrested the same day for their involvement in the incident. Eleven others were arrested on Wednesday. Police said that those who have been nabbed in the case are being questioned.
Meanwhile, the Mamata Banerjee government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Additional Director General (CID) Gyanwant Singh to probe the incident. The Sub-divisional Police Officer concerned an officer in-charge of Rampurhat police station have been removed from active policing duty.
In another related development, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that she will visit Birbhum tomorrow to take stock of the situation. Lashing out at the BJP, she said, "Not justifying Birbhum killings, but such incidents are more frequent in UP, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan."
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari told reporters on his way to Birbhum that Mamata Banerjee should resign, alleging that attempts were being made to shield the culprits.
"The Chief Minister is also the home minister of the state. She has failed in discharging her duties as the home minister. She should immediately resign," he said.
READ MORE: Birbhum violence: BJP demands Mamata Banerjee's resignation
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