News Analysis India

Tag: Birbhum

  • Bengal: Kin protest outside CBI office with body of Bogtui violence accused who died in custody

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Demanding action against the CBI over the custodial death of Lalan Sheikh, one of the main accused in the Rampurhat massacre, his family demonstrated outside the agency’s office in West Bengal’s Birbhum district with the body on Wednesday.

    Sheikh was found hanging in the washroom of the CBI camp office in Rampurhat on Monday.

    As police handed Sheikh’s body to his family after the post-mortem at the Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital, they took it to the CBI office and started a demonstration.

    They also got into a scuffle with security personnel guarding the office.

    Family members of Lalan Sheikh with villagers protest outside the camp office of CBI, in Birbhum. (Photo | PTI)

    “CBI officers are responsible for Lalan’s death. We want them to be punished. They must be arrested immediately or else we will not conduct the last rites of my husband,” said Sheikh’s wife Reshma Bibi.

    “Why was I not allowed to see my husband after his death? There must be something mysterious,” she claimed.

    Family members of Lalan Sheikh with villagers protest outside the camp office of CBI, in Birbhum. (Photo | PTI)

    A senior police officer said they were talking to the family so that the last rites can be performed.

    CBI claimed that Sheikh, one of the main accused in the killing of 10 people, died by suicide.

    At least 10 people were killed as their houses in the Bogtui village in Rampurhat were allegedly firebombed in the dead of the night on March 21 after the murder of local TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh.

    Meanwhile, the state CID took over the investigation into the custodial death and sought the post-mortem report from the district police, a senior officer said.

    KOLKATA: Demanding action against the CBI over the custodial death of Lalan Sheikh, one of the main accused in the Rampurhat massacre, his family demonstrated outside the agency’s office in West Bengal’s Birbhum district with the body on Wednesday.

    Sheikh was found hanging in the washroom of the CBI camp office in Rampurhat on Monday.

    As police handed Sheikh’s body to his family after the post-mortem at the Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital, they took it to the CBI office and started a demonstration.

    They also got into a scuffle with security personnel guarding the office.

    Family members of Lalan Sheikh with villagers protest outside the camp office of CBI, in Birbhum. (Photo | PTI)

    “CBI officers are responsible for Lalan’s death. We want them to be punished. They must be arrested immediately or else we will not conduct the last rites of my husband,” said Sheikh’s wife Reshma Bibi.

    “Why was I not allowed to see my husband after his death? There must be something mysterious,” she claimed.

    Family members of Lalan Sheikh with villagers protest outside the camp office of CBI, in Birbhum. (Photo | PTI)

    A senior police officer said they were talking to the family so that the last rites can be performed.

    CBI claimed that Sheikh, one of the main accused in the killing of 10 people, died by suicide.

    At least 10 people were killed as their houses in the Bogtui village in Rampurhat were allegedly firebombed in the dead of the night on March 21 after the murder of local TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh.

    Meanwhile, the state CID took over the investigation into the custodial death and sought the post-mortem report from the district police, a senior officer said.

  • Bengal: Wife claims Bogtui violence accused murdered by CBI officials, files complaint

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: A day after Bogtui violence-accused Lalan Sheikh died in CBI custody in Bengal’s Birbhum district, his wife claimed on Tuesday that he was “murdered” by agency officials, who had earlier demanded Rs 50 lakh to clear his name in the case.

    Reshma Bibi on Tuesday morning filed a complaint at Rampurhat Police Station, alleging that the CBI officials had threatened to kill Sheikh during their visit with him to Bogtui village as part of the investigation process.

    The central agency, which is probing the Bogtui arson and violence that had in March left at least 10 people dead, rubbished the allegation as “baseless”.

    Sheikh, a prime accused in Bogtui violence, was “found hanging” on Monday in the washroom of a temporary CBI office set up in a guest house in Rampurhat, with CBI officials claiming that he died by suicide and his family alleging that his death resulted from torture.

    Some of the family members along with villagers had been staging a sit-in outside the agency’s office, holding ‘Go Back CBI’ placards.

    The Birbhum district police have already started a probe into the custodial death.

    Sheikh’s inconsolable wife, talking to reporters, said, “My husband has been murdered by CBI officers. He could not have died by suicide. The officers who came to our house along with Lalan on Monday afternoon had asked for Rs 50 lakh to clear his name. They had also beaten me up at that time.”

    She also stated that CBI officers had on Monday afternoon given her a call to inform about Sheikh’s death, besides threatening her and her son of the same consequences.

    The CBI, however, rebuffed the allegations as “baseless and bereft of truth”.

    A senior CBI official, however, said that any of the agency sleuths, if found guilty of lapses during the inquiry into the case, will have to face strict action.

    “We are here to investigate. Nobody in our team asks for money from anybody. Such allegations are absolutely baseless,” the CBI officer added.

    KOLKATA: A day after Bogtui violence-accused Lalan Sheikh died in CBI custody in Bengal’s Birbhum district, his wife claimed on Tuesday that he was “murdered” by agency officials, who had earlier demanded Rs 50 lakh to clear his name in the case.

    Reshma Bibi on Tuesday morning filed a complaint at Rampurhat Police Station, alleging that the CBI officials had threatened to kill Sheikh during their visit with him to Bogtui village as part of the investigation process.

    The central agency, which is probing the Bogtui arson and violence that had in March left at least 10 people dead, rubbished the allegation as “baseless”.

    Sheikh, a prime accused in Bogtui violence, was “found hanging” on Monday in the washroom of a temporary CBI office set up in a guest house in Rampurhat, with CBI officials claiming that he died by suicide and his family alleging that his death resulted from torture.

    Some of the family members along with villagers had been staging a sit-in outside the agency’s office, holding ‘Go Back CBI’ placards.

    The Birbhum district police have already started a probe into the custodial death.

    Sheikh’s inconsolable wife, talking to reporters, said, “My husband has been murdered by CBI officers. He could not have died by suicide. The officers who came to our house along with Lalan on Monday afternoon had asked for Rs 50 lakh to clear his name. They had also beaten me up at that time.”

    She also stated that CBI officers had on Monday afternoon given her a call to inform about Sheikh’s death, besides threatening her and her son of the same consequences.

    The CBI, however, rebuffed the allegations as “baseless and bereft of truth”.

    A senior CBI official, however, said that any of the agency sleuths, if found guilty of lapses during the inquiry into the case, will have to face strict action.

    “We are here to investigate. Nobody in our team asks for money from anybody. Such allegations are absolutely baseless,” the CBI officer added.

  • CBI files before Calcutta HC probe progress reports in Birbhum killings, TMC leader’s murder

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The CBI on Monday submitted before the Calcutta High Court probe progress reports in the Birbhum arson case, which left 10 people dead, and the murder of TMC panchayat deputy chief Bhadu Sheikh that allegedly led to the killings.

    A division bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice R Bharadwaj, which ordered a CBI probe into the two incidents, had directed the agency to file the progress reports on the investigations on May 2.

    The bench had on March 25 ordered that the probe into the March 21 violence at Bogtui in Birbhum district be handed over to CBI from the West Bengal government-appointed special investigation team.

    It had subsequently on April 8 ordered that the investigation in the murder of Bhadu Sheikh be also handed over to the CBI from the state police, observing that the second incident prima facie seems to be the fall out of the murder of Sheikh.

    Ten people, including women and children, died after miscreants set fire to houses in Bogtui village on March 21.

    The massacre happened shortly after Sheikh was killed.

  • Birbhum killings: CBI books 10 people in TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh’s murder

    By PTI

    RAMPURHAT: The CBI on Saturday registered an FIR against 10 people in connection with the murder of TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh, which apparently led to the killing of nine people in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, a senior official said.

    Among those named in the FIR are Palash Shiekh, Sanju Shiekh, Sona Shiekh and Choto Shiekh — who have been arrested, he said.

    The case was filed under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy), and relevant sections of the Explosive Substances Act.

    The CBI visited Rampurhat police station during the day, and collected the case diary and documents linked to Bhadhu Shiekh’s murder investigation, the official said.

    “The CBI officers spoke to the police personnel there. They also spoke to witnesses of the murder and took stock of the situation,” he said.

    CBI officers also visited Bogtui Mor where Bhadu was killed, he added.

    The CBI took over the investigation of murder from the police, following an order of the Calcutta High Court.

    Bhadu’s murder is believed to have led to the killing of nine people on March 21 in Bogtui village.

    The nine people, including two children, died of burn injuries after their houses were allegedly firebombed.

  • Panchayat official murder: Bombs buried next to home of accused in Birbhum village recovered

    By PTI

    RAMPURHAT: The police in West Bengal’s Birbhum district on Sunday recovered bombs, buried next to the residence of an absconding accused in TMC panchayat official Bhadu Sheikh’s murder case, a senior officer said.

    A team of police officers, accompanied by a bomb squad, unearthed the explosives that were kept in a drum and buried beside Palash Sheikh’s house in Bogtui village. The squad then defused the bombs on a vacant piece of land, the senior police officer said.

    At least 10 FIRs have been filed and over 20 arrested in Bhadu Sheikh’s murder case so far. Violence had broken out in Bogtui near Rampurhat town last month following the murder, with miscreants attacking houses and setting them on fire, leaving eight people dead, including children.

    One woman succumbed to her burn injuries days after, taking the toll to nine. The massacre in the aftermath of the panchayat official’s murder is being probed by the CBI.

    CBI sleuths, during the day, spoke to locals in neighbouring Kumadda village, where a bike and two e-rickshaws (toto) that were allegedly used to carry bombs and petrol during the carnage were seized on Saturday, one of the central agency officials said.

    According to the official, forensic tests might be conducted on the seized vehicles.

  • BJP claims eight persons in Bengal’s Birbhum were beaten up and set on fire

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Taking on the TMC government over the Birbhum massacre in which eight persons were charred to death on Monday night, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday alleged that the eight people were beaten up brutally before being set on fire by the perpetrators.

    Accusing some leaders of Bengal of trying to cover up the ruthless killings, the BJP denied the fact that the cause of the blaze was due to a short circuit and subsequent multiple explosions of LPG cylinders.

    Sambit Patra-national spokesperson of BJP  here on Thursday at a press conference accused the TMC of indulging in ‘vendetta politics’ in which 8 people, including 6 women, were charred to death in Birbhum district.

    Quoting the post-mortems reports, Patra said: “The post-mortem reports have now come out clearly indicating that women and children, charred to death in Birbhum district of Bengal, were first brutally beaten up and then burnt. Where are now those leaders, who have been attributing the horrific incident to short-circuit?” He further alleged that 26 political murders have taken place in the last week in Bengal. The law and order in the state remain a big question mark.  “Mamata Banerjee should have stopped all those political murders, but she did not stop. In Birbhum, as local people said, the police were absent after the incident”, Patra alleged, complaining that the administration was instructed not to allow the police to reach there after the crime. “ Till date, the workers of Mamata Banerjee have killed about 200 BJP workers in the politics of revenge being done by Mamata Banerjee”, he alleged

  • Birbhum killings: HC asks Delhi CFSL to collect samples from site of incident, orders govt to file report

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed CFSL Delhi to immediately collect necessary materials for forensic examination at Bogtui village in Bengal’s Birbhum district, where at least eight people were charred to death in the suspected fallout of a TMC panchayat official’s murder.

    The court asked the state government to file a report in the case before it by 2 pm on Thursday, when the matter will be taken up for hearing again.

    A division bench headed by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava, taking up a suo motu petition and a set of PILs, ordered that CCTVs be installed at the crime scene in the presence of district judge, Purba Bardhaman, and recordings be done until further orders.

    The bench, also comprising justice R Bharadwaj, directed a team of Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Delhi to visit the place of incident and collect samples for examination without any delay.

    It asked the DGP to ensure safety of witnesses, including that of a minor boy injured in the arson, in consultation with the district judge, Purba Bardhaman.

    The court observed that suo motu petition has been registered for fair investigation in the case.

    The petitioners in the PILs have prayed for a probe by the CBI or by any other agency which is not controlled by the state.

    Advocate general representing the government opposed the prayer, stating an SIT was probing the matter and that there was no need to transfer the case to any other agency.

  • Bengal polls: BJP to unleash Rajnath, Adityanath to breach TMC citadel Birbhum

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: BJP high command has decided to engage its heavyweights to wrest the ruling Trinamool Congress’ citadel of Birbhum that comprises 14 Assembly constituencies. 

    The saffron camp is likely to send Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, and UP CM Yogi Adityanath to the south Bengal district shortly as the party showed impressive performance by bagging leads in four Assembly seats out of 14 in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

    The saffron camp gained remarkable momentum by taking its vote share to more than 40% in 2019 from 8% in 2016.

    “Since we have made deep inroads in north Bengal in 2019 general elections by bagging seven Lok Sabha seats out of eight, now we are giving stress in south Bengal. We are expecting a tooth and nail battle with the TMC in Birbhum district as our performance in the previous Lok Sabha elections was impressive,” said a BJP leader.

    Eyeing the 14 Assembly seats in the district’s two Lok Sabha constituency — Birbhum and Bolpur, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a roadshow in Bolpur on December 20.

    The four Assembly seats — Dubrajpur, Suri, Sainthia, and Rampurhat — in the Birbhum Lok Sabha constituency witnessed BJP’s aggressive onslaught in the general elections in 2019. When the saffron camp secured the lead with a razor-thin margin in Sainthia seat, the difference was between 5% to 9% in three other seats. Among the four seats, two are reserved for candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste communities. 

    “In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, we performed well in the regions dominated by the voters belonging to SC communities. In Birbhum districts, Dalits form more than 35% of total electorates as Scheduled Tribe voters have more than 6% electoral stake. So, we are preparing for an all-out battle in Birbhum as the district turned to be a fertile ground for us in the previous general elections,” said a BJP leader.

  • Speculation about Mamata’s close Shatabdi Roy going to BJP intensified

    As the assembly elections in West Bengal are approaching, the political mercury has been rising in the state. Now the speculation of TMC MP Shatabdi Roy, close to Trinamool Congress President and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and joining BJP, has intensified. These speculations are being made from the Facebook posts of the supporters of the century. Shatabdi Roy has been an MP from Birbhum since 2009. The post reads, “I don’t get many news of the program. How can I go if I don’t know? I also have mental pain with this. In the last ten years I have spent more time representing you or you from my home, trying my best to do things, even the enemies accept it, so I am trying to make a decision in this new year so that I can fully I can be with you.

    As the assembly elections in West Bengal are approaching, the political mercury has been rising in the state. Now the speculation of TMC MP Shatabdi Roy, close to Trinamool Congress President and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and joining BJP, has intensified. These speculations are being made from the Facebook posts of the supporters of the century. Shatabdi Roy has been an MP from Birbhum since 2009. The post reads, “I don’t get many news of the program. How can I go if I don’t know? I also have mental pain with this. In the last ten years I have spent more time representing you or you from my home, trying my best to do things, even the enemies accept it, so I am trying to make a decision in this new year so that I can fully I can be with you.