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CBI file charge sheets in Birbhum TMC leader’s murder, massacre by supporters
CBI took over the Birbhum cases in West Bengal on March 25 on orders of the Calcutta high court. Two of the 18 people listed as accused are minors
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday filed two charge sheets at Rampurhat court in Bengal’s Bhirbhum district in connection with the March 21 murder of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Bhadu Sheikh and the massacre which claimed 10 lives when Sheikh’s men attacked some houses at Bogtui village the same night, lawyers aware of the development said.
The charge sheets in the two crimes - which the CBI claimed to be directly linked - ran into more than a thousand pages, lawyers said. The agency named four people as prime accused in Sheikh’s murder and 18 others, including TMC leader Anarul Sheikh who is now in judicial custody, for the massacre. Some of the suspects are yet to be arrested, according to CBI.
Ten people, eight of them women, died after two houses, belonging to Sanju Shaikh and Fatik Sheikh were set on fire at Bogtui village near Rampurhat town. At least eight more houses were attacked but there were no casualties in these attacks.
The violence, according to allegations by Bogtui residents, stemmed from disputes between rival factions of the TMC over dubious land deals, illegal businesses and crores of rupees extorted from traders and transporters who carry sand from local river beds and stones from quarries to other states and various cities of Bengal.
CBI took up the probe on orders of the Calcutta high court on March 25.
Bogtui village is 150 metres from the bustling Rampurhat town and less than a kilometre from the police station. The town and the village are separated by national highways 14.
Bhadu Sheikh, the deputy chief of the local TMC-controlled Barshal gram panchayat was killed in a bomb attack around 8.30pm on March 21.
CBI said in its charge sheet that his murder was the fallout of old rivalry between him and Palash Sheikh, Sanju Sheikh and Sona Sheikh who were named as prime suspects.
Among the 18 people named as accused in the arson and massacre, two are minors. CBI told the court that one of these minors played an active role in setting the homes on fire.
After visiting Bogtui on March 24, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said the accused and victims of the attacks were TMC supporters.
Apart from compensation for the families of the victims, the government also announced jobs for Bhadu Sheikh’s widow, Tabila Bibi and Mihilal Sheikh, whose mother, wife, daughter, sister and sister-in-law were killed in the arson.
