NEW ELHI, April 8: The Calcutta High Court on Friday handed over the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) the murder of the Trinamool Congress deputy pradhan Bhadu Sheikh who was killed in bomb attack in Bogtui village in Birbhum district of West Bengal last month.
The CBI is already investigating at the behest of the Calcutta High Court the subsequent violence in the village in which eight people, including six women and two children, were locked in a house and burnt alive on March 21.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj said both incidents (murder and retaliatory violence) are inter-linked and better to be investigated by the same agency. The High Court had on March 25 directed the CBI to probe into the Bogtui violence subsequent to Bhadu Sheikh’s killing.
“The incidents are alleged to be a result of political rivalry. The allegation of the applicants that both incidents form part of the common conspiracy and continuous cause of action cannot be ignored. It is also worth noting if one agency investigates both the incidents then not only it will be easier to unearth the truth, but it will also facilitate trial before the same competent Court,” the order by the Division Bench said.
The Court took note of the preliminary investigation report of the CBI which was filed before the Court on Thursday in connection with the violence. “Both the incidents took place within a gap of about two hours. Material placed on record prima facie suggests close relationship and linkage between the two incidents,” the order said.
The Division Bench pointed out that the report submitted by the CBI “before this Court today prima facie suggests that brutal incident of burning and killing at Bogtui village is the direct fall out of the killing of Bhadu Sk, the son of Marfat Sk of village Bogtui at 8:30 pm on the same day”.
“It also suggests that the incident is outcome of the rivalry amongst the members of two groups in the village and that burning of the houses resulting into death of 8 persons was retaliatory plan,” the Court noted.
The CBI had arrested four persons from Mumbai on Thursday in connection with the Bogtui violence. The Special Investigation Team of the West Bengal police, which was investigating the case earlier had arrested 22 people who were handed over to the CBI after the central agency took charge of the investigation.
(Manas Dasgupta)
