BREAKING| Calcutta High Court Takes Suo Moto Cognisance Of Birbhum Massacre, Hearing At 2pm Today

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday took suo moto cognisance of the incident of Rampurhat violence that erupted in the Birbhum district in the State of West Bengal. 

Shortly after the alleged murder of a Trinamool Congress deputy panchayat chief at Bogtui village in Birbhum district, violence broke out in Rampurhat

A Bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj on Wednesday agreed to take suo moto cognisance of the matter and further averred that the Bench would hear the matter at 2pm today i.e. on March 23. 

Meanwhile, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition was also filed on Tuesday seeking an investigation by either the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the incident of Rampurhat violence. 

The PIL filed by advocate Anindya Kumar Das seeks a probe by either the CBI or the NIA by averring that a 'serious law and order problem' has been created at Rampurhat and that public at large is lying at the mercy of local goons as the State police authorities have failed to abate the ongoing violence.

Background 

On Monday evening, Bhadu Sheikh, the deputy pradhan (TMC) of Barishal Gram Panchayat under Rampurhat block 1 was allegedly killed when four men on motorcycles hurled a crude bomb at him. Sheikh was taken to the Rampurhat government hospital but was declared brought dead. His body has been brought to his native Bagtui village in Rampurhat.

Consequently, the police has filed an FIR in the case. Shortly after the death, violence broke out in Rampurhat when a mob allegedly locked up 10-12 houses with the residents inside and set them on fire.

Taking cognisance of the violence, the State government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by the additional director general of police (CID), Gyanwant Singh, to probe the incident. The Sub Divisional Police Officer and in-charge of Rampurhat police station has also been removed from active policing duty. 

The incident has led to a a war of words between the TMC and the BJP. The issue also resulted in BJP MLAs staging a walkout inside the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

Describing the death of eight people at Rampurhat as horrific, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday said it indicates that the state is in the grip of a culture of "violence and lawlessness". Calling upon the police to deal with the matter professionally, the Governor said that he has asked the state chief secretary to send him an update on the incident urgently.