Rioters tried to kill policemen in Murshidabad incidents: Bengal govt to Calcutta HC

KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed central paramilitary forces to stay in riot-hit Murshidabad district after the West Bengal government filed a report saying the rioters tried to kill policemen and even snatched a service pistol, lawyers present at the hearing said.

The violence rocked Suti, Raghunathganj, Dhuliyan and Shamserganj towns and adjacent rural areas in Murshidabad’s Jangipur sub-division for five days when protests by local Muslims against the newly enforced Waqf (Amendment) Act spiralled into communal attacks.

Lawyers representing the central government told the bench of justices Soumen Sen and Raja Basu Chowdhury that the nine companies of Border Security Force (BSF) and eight companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) deployed after the court’s April 12 order should be allowed to stay in view of the ground situation.

The Bengal government’s lawyers did not object to this request but underlined that the law and order situation was under control and many of the affected Hindu families had returned home.

“In its report, the Bengal government gave details of the attacks that started at Omarpur on April 8. It said the mobs attacked police and even snatched a pistol from an officer,” a lawyer said requesting anonymity.

The violence left three people dead. Haragobindo Das, 72, and his son Chandan Das, 40, were hacked to death by a mob. The third person, Ezaz Ahmed, 25, was killed in firing by security forces.

The court reserved its order on multiple petitions demanding probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The bench suggested that a three-member panel comprising members of the National Human Rights Commission, West Bengal State Human Rights Commission and State Legal Services Authority should visit Murshidabad to assess how far peace has been restored and whether villagers who fled their homes have been rehabilitated.

The bench has heard multiple petitions filed since Wednesday.

Bharatiya Janata Party’s legal cell member Priyanka Tibrewal sought an NIA probe.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Amiya Kumar Sarkar filed a separate petition to seek CBI and NIA probes as well as invocation of Article 355 and 356 of the Constitution, claiming that there was a “breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state,”

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari filed another petition praying for permission to visit the affected areas. A fourth petition was filed by riot-hit residents of Suti, Dhuliyan and Samserganj.

All the petitions were transferred to the bench of justice Sen and justice Chowdhury.

“We prayed that expenditure for rehabilitation should be borne by those who carried out the riots. The bench observed that all the accused must be identified first,” said lawyer Anindya Sundar Das, who represented VHP.

The petitions will be heard again next week.