NEW DELHI, April 7: The Central Bureau of Investigation arrested four persons from Mumbai in connection with the gruesome Birbhum killings in West Bengal last month in which nine persons including six women and two children were locked in a house and burnt alive. “Four persons have been arrested from Mumbai in connection with the case,” the CBI confirmed on Thursday.
This is the first arrest made by the CBI since it took over the case from the state police at the behest of the Calcutta High Court. The accused persons will be brought to Kolkata on transit remand. Sources in the investigative agency said those arrested are Bappa Sheikh, Sabu Sheikh and two others. They were allegedly present at the spot on the night of the incident in Bogtui village in Birbhum district in which several houses were set on fire, resulting in nine deaths.
The CBI tracked the mobile phone tower locations of the accused and nabbed them. Sources said they had escaped to Mumbai on March 22, the day after the killings.
The CBI also submitted a primary investigation report on Thursday to the Calcutta High Court in a sealed envelope. According to sources, the agency has mentioned “destruction of evidences” before the division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj.
During the hearing, the matter to hand over the murder case of TMC deputy village panchayat chief Bhadu Sheikh to the CBI also came up. The Bengal government argued that the state police was investigating that murder and there was no need for the CBI to step in.
It was Bhadu Sheikh’s killing in bomb attack that is believed to have led the subsequent violence culminating in burning nine people alive. “Last Monday through an application, I had prayed before the honourable judge to hand over both the investigations to the CBI. Today after a prolonged hearing, we are hopeful that we have been able to convince the court that if the CBI investigates both the incidents, it will be easier for the agency too. We believe when the two incidents are investigated by an independent agency, only then there is a possibility of impartial probe,” said the plaintiff’s lawyer Kaustav Bagchi. The court has reserved its judgement.
The Calcutta High Court had on March 25 ordered CBI probe into the Birbhum massacre. The state government had earlier set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the incident. The SIT was asked to hand over the case papers and those it had arrested to the CBI. The SIT had arrested 22 people, including Trinamool Congress Block President Anarul Hossain.
(Manas Dasgupta)
