A total of eight people including children and women were allegedly burned alive after their houses were set on fire in Rampurhat, in the district of Birbhum (West Bengal). Eleven people were arrested by the police in connection to the incident till now.
Bhadu Sheikh, the deputy chief of Barshal gram panchayat, and a resident of Bogtui village were killed in a bomb attack late Monday night. This incident led to attacks on eight houses that were allegedly set on fire in Bogtui village.
The state government has set up a special investigation team (SIT) with Gyanwant Singh, Additional Director General of Police (CID) to lead the investigation.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee calls the incident “unfortunate” and said that the government will take action in a “fair manner”. She further added that the OC was dismissed immediately after the incident. She is also going to visit the site on Thursday.
The National Commission of Women has written a letter to the DGP and the SP to take immediate and strict actions against all the culprits involved in the incident and to intimate the actions taken into the matter to the commission within 24 hours. Calcutta High court has also taken up a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in regard to the Birbhum fire incident.
National Commission for Women (NCW) takes cognizance of the Birbhum incident and writes to DGP West Bengal and SP Birbhum to arrest and take stringent action against the culprits and to intimate the action taken into the matter to the Commission within 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/cmd0zW8wmO
— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2022
Barshal gram panchayat is managed by the ruling party Trinamool Congress. Manoj Malviya, DGP West Bengal police while talking to the reporters said that the situation is now under control and police are doing a detailed investigation into whether the houses were set on fire or it was an accident. Police have also set up pickets in the area. He also pointed out that the death of the Trinamool panchayat leader can be a “deep-rooted personal animosity”.
The governor of West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankar summoned the chief secretary to get a detailed report on the matter. He also tweeted about the incident and conveyed his sympathies to the families. He further called the incident of violence an ‘arson orgy’ in his tweet.
https://twitter.com/jdhankhar1/status/1506187657692340226
Trinamool Congress has sent out a team of three MLAs led by Minister Firhad Hakim to keep a close watch on the incident.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal delegation of BJP has written an open letter to the Union Home Minister urging his immediate intervention and action on the “unabated post-poll violence and deteriorating law and order situation in West Bengal”.
However, TMC continues to call all the allegations made by the opposition to be false and baseless.