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Calcutta HC sets up SIT to probe into alleged rape, murder of teenage girl in WB
Violent clashes had erupted in Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district on April 21 after a 17-year-old girl’s body was found by locals following which two, including a 20-year-old prime accused, were arrested
The Calcutta high court on Thursday set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe into the alleged rape and murder of a teenage girl at Uttar Dinajpur in north Bengal that had triggered violent protests in the area in April.
Violent clashes had erupted in Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district on April 21 after a 17-year-old girl’s body was found by locals following which two, including a 20-year-old prime accused, were arrested.
The SIT would be headed by former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) additional director Upen Biswas, who made headlines in 1997 by arresting the then Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam case, people familiar with the matter said.
“According to the court order, discrepancies had cropped up in the police investigation. The time mentioned in the inquest report didn’t match that of the autopsy report. The family had lost faith in the probe by the state police. The court set up an SIT to probe into the incident,” said advocate Lokenath Chatterjee.
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“We have no faith in the state police. We wanted a CBI probe. We are not satisfied with the high court’s order of an SIT investigation,” the deceased girl’s grandfather had told media persons.
The three-member SIT will include Biswas, former IPS officer and retired inspector general of West Bengal police Pankaj Dutta and special commissioner of Kolkata police Damayanti Sen, according to the people.
The SIT has been directed to submit its preliminary report on June 28. The court has left it to the SIT to decide whether the victim’s body needs would be exhumed for a second autopsy.
While the opposition welcomed Thursday’s high court order, it didn’t go down well with the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
“It’s a historic order. We all wanted a CBI probe. The court has ordered a SIT probe. The family may not get justice. The police investigation was echoing the ruling party,” Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya told reporters.
“The court order proves that it has lost faith in the state police,”, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sujan Chakraborty said.
The TMC questioned the court’s order of allowing an SIT probe. “We have nothing to say with the court order, but what is the criteria for including a member in the SIT? Should the person who attacks the government be in the SIT? There should be some transparency,” said Kunal Ghosh, TMC spokesperson.
