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Bengal post-poll violence: CBI, SIT to probe cases, says Calcutta high court
A five-judge bench, headed by acting chief justice Rajesh Bindal, said the CBI will probe into the serious allegations of rape and murder while SIT that of arson and loot under the court’s supervision
The Calcutta high court on Thursday ordered separate probes by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police into the alleged post-poll violence in West Bengal this year.
A five-judge bench, headed by acting chief justice Rajesh Bindal, said the CBI will probe into the serious allegations of rape and murder while SIT that of arson and loot under the court’s supervision. It ordered the CBI and SIT to submit status reports to the court within six weeks. The matter would be heard again on October 24.
In June, the court directed the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to constitute a committee to examine all cases of alleged violence after the March-April assembly elections. The seven-member committee submitted its final report on July 13 slamming the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government while recommending a CBI probe. The report also recommended that the trials in the cases of violence should be held outside the state.
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The NHRC said at least 1,934 police complaints were lodged in the state between May 2 and June 20. They included 29 complaints related to murder, 12 to rape and sexual assault, and 940 of loot and arson. Out of the 9,304 people named as accused, less than 3% were in jail, the panel said.
“The situation in the state of West Bengal is a manifestation of Law of Ruler, instead of Rule of Law,” the report said.
