CBI starts probe into Bengal poll violence
A team of sleuths belonging to the central agency recorded the statement of Biswajit Sarkar, brother of Bharatiya Janata Party worker Abhijit Sarkar who was allegedly killed by Trinamool Congress workers in Kolkata.
Days after a Calcutta high court order, officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Kolkata on Monday began its probe into cases of murder, attempts to murder and rape reported during the post-poll violence in West Bengal as four of its special teams from Delhi were yet to arrive in the state.
A team of sleuths belonging to the central agency recorded the statement of Biswajit Sarkar, brother of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker Abhijit Sarkar who was allegedly killed by Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers in Kolkata’s Narkeldanga area, shortly after the assembly election results were announced on May 2. He was the only BJP worker to have been killed in the state capital.
“We will definitely get justice,” Biswajit said as he left the CBI office at CGO complex in Salt Lake on Monday afternoon. He was brought to the complex by a team of CBI officials earlier in the day and was questioned for around two hours.
“After the poll results were announced, TMC workers tied a television wire around my brother’s neck and dragged him along the road. They smashed his head with a stone. The police did not register a complaint even though we pleaded several times,” Biswajit had said on August 19.
The BJP worker’s brother also alleged that his family was threatened by the police who said that they would decide on the names of the accused in the case. “We refused to comply,” he added.
Two persons -- Sanjay Dev (26) and Avijit Dev (25) -- were arrested in connection with the murder case on July 24. The accused are residents of Mahesh Barick Lane in Narkeldanga.
Seven of the eight persons named in the FIR have been nabbed so far, a senior Kolkata Police officer said on condition of anonymity.
On July 13, the Calcutta high court directed the Central Forensic Science Laboratory to conduct a DNA test on the body to identify the victim.Lawyer Priyanka Tibrewal, who represented the petitioner in court, said, “The DNA report has been submitted. It is in the custody of the court. Since the victim’s body is still lying in a morgue, we will appeal for its release for the last rites once the CBI is done with the investigation.”
Soon after the TMC swept the assembly elections on May 2, the BJP made allegations of widespread post-poll violence from across the state. Biswajit was among the several petitioners who moved the Supreme Court for a probe into the alleged violence. The apex court allowed the Calcutta high court to look into the matter.
Following directions from the high court on June 18, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) carried out an investigation and submitted its final report on July 13, recommending a CBI probe and trials outside the state.
After studying the NHRC’s final report, the high court last week ordered separate probes by the CBI and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police into the alleged violence.
A five-judge bench headed by acting chief justice Rajesh Bindal said the CBI will probe the serious allegations of rape and murder and a three-member SIT those of arson and loot under the court’s supervision.
Four special teams, comprising seven members each, are slated to arrive in the state this week to take charge of complaints from north, south, west and Kolkata zones, respectively, people familiar with the development said, adding that separate FIRs would be filed for each allegation of rape and murder.
The state government has maintained that the NHRC report was biased and prepared with a political motive.