Two held in Bengal for Murshidabad murders; no violence in 48 hours

Kolkata/Berhampore: The West Bengal police on Tuesday arrested two men in connection with the April 12 murder of a 72-year-old man and his 40-year-old son at Jafrabad village in Murshidabad amid violent protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act notified by the Centre.

Haragobindo Das, 72, and his son Chandan, 40, were hacked to death by a mob that broke into their house in the Samserganj police station area amid violent protests against the recently enforced Waqf Amendment Act by local Muslims who comprise 66% of the district’s population.

The violence, in which police were attacked and properties destroyed, rocked Suti, Raghunathganj, Dhuliyan and Samserganj towns and adjacent rural areas close to the Bangladesh border for five days.

At Samserganj, additional director general of police (south Bengal) Supratim Sarkar said: “Several people involved in the two murders were identified from security camera footage. Of them, Kalu Nadab was nabbed on Monday night from Murarai in Birbhum district where he was hiding. His brother Dildar Nadab was picked up from Suti.”

Kalu Nadab, a resident of Digri village located near Jafrabad, was named as an accused in the police complaint Parul Das, wife of Haragobindo Das, lodged on April 13.

The complaint, a copy of which was seen by HT, did not name Dilbar Nadab but mentioned four residents of the local Sulitala village. The names are Akbar Sheikh, Hazrat Ali, Nurul Sheikh and Afsar Ali.

The fathers of these five accused were also named in the complaint that led the Samserganj police station to lodge Case no 210/25 under Section 103 of BNS (murder and mob lynching).

A sixth person, Yusuf Sheikh, was the first accused mentioned in the complaint. His address was mentioned as “the new house beside Digri lake.”

In the complaint written in Bengali, Parul Das said: “The persons named here hacked my husband and son to death after dragging them out of the house. We pleaded a lot but these men could not be stopped. Although there were many people only a few committed the murders. It is our prayer that the persons named below get the strictest punishment.”

CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim, who went to Jafrabad on Monday to meet the family, said the deceased were supporters of his party.

“They were murdered only because they tried to stop the rioting,” Salim said.

“A special investigation team has been formed to probe the murders. Raids are on to arrest the others. Police will not spare anyone involved in this crime directly or indirectly,” Sarkar said.

Although many shops opened at Samserganj on Tuesday, nobody was in the mood to celebrate Poila Boishakh, the Bengali New Year’s Day.

People whose homes were looted and ransacked queued outside Samserganj police station to lodge complaints.

Rakhi Das, another resident of Jafrabad, said: “They not only looted everything but set fire to my house as well. Many important documents were destroyed. I have left home with my husband and son. We are too scared to return to the village.”

Similar scenes were witnessed at Betbona village in Samserganj.

Gopal Das, a resident, said: “I sold some land to build a house. I kept the money at home to buy bricks and cement. The notes were destroyed in the fire.”

At Samserganj town, Akhil Pramanik, a businessman, said: “Shops and markets are opening but people are still scared. Restoration of peace will take time.”

“The situation is limping back to normal. Things are peaceful now,” said Birendra Kumar Sharma, inspector general, Central Reserve Police Force which deployed eight companies to control the violence. The deployment of central armed police force was ordered by the Calcutta high court on April 12.

ADG Sarkar said: “No violence has been reported in the last 48 hours. We have arrested 221 people so far. We have blocked 1,093 social media accounts. Cases have been filed against the account holders for spreading hatred and rumour.”

Close to Kolkata, eight Indian Secular Front (ISF) supporters were arrested on Tuesday from Bhangar in South 24 Parganas district for destroying several police vehicles and injuring 11 men in uniform during an agitation on the Waqf issue on Monday.

“The accused have been charged with destruction of public property, assault on government employees and breach of peace,” a district police officer said.

Leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) blamed each other for the violence in Murshidabad.

“For decades, Bengalis have celebrated Poila Boishakh by listening to songs of Tagore and Nazrul Islam. Today, thanks to TMC, all they hear are gun shots and bomb explosions,” BJP’s former Bengal unit president Dilip Ghosh said.

TMC state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar shot back.

“BJP leaders planned this violence for political gains. Why can’t they just accept their defeat in back-to-back elections?” said Majumdar.