In a stinging assault on the governing Trinamool administration, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences to the families of the victims of the Birbhum arson and encouraged Bengalis to “never forgive the culprits” and “those who enable such criminals.”
“I send my sympathies to the victims of the recent terrible tragedy in Birbhum, West Bengal. I trust that those who perpetrated such a horrific crime in the wonderful country of Bengal would be severely punished by the state administration. I implore the Bengali people to never forgive the perpetrators of such crimes or those who promote them. On behalf of the federal government, I assure the state that whatever assistance it requires in prosecuting criminals will be provided as soon as possible “Prime Minister Modi stated.
A team of forensic specialists went to the residence that had been set on fire and took samples.
In the afternoon, a BJP delegation headed by Suvendu Adhikari, the state Assembly’s Leader of the Opposition, arrived in the area and sought a CBI investigation (CBI). Since there was an explosion, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) can come and investigate the case, according to Adhikari. “We have no trust in the Special Investigation Team (SIT) created by Mamata Banerjee since it is led by her. There is a need for a CBI investigation “Added he.
“Mamata Banerjee should accept the onus and quit,” said BJP MP Arjun Singh, who was part of the group. Three SIT members have been tarnished. We want the CBI to look into it.”
Adhir Ranjan Mukherjee, a Congress MP and senior politician, has written to President Ram Nath Kovind, requesting him to use Article 355 of the Constitution to impose President’s Rule in Bengal. Chowdhury noted the “deteriorating law and order situation in West Bengal” in his letter, as well as 26 political killings in the previous month. “The whole state is gripped by fear and violence,” he stated, adding, “I highlighted this severe subject in Parliament yesterday, March 22nd, in order to call the nation’s attention to the state’s constitutional machinery collapse.”
K Suresh, the Congress Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha, said Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury would visit Birbhum tomorrow and give a report to the party leadership.
Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who called the event in Birbhum a “arson orgy” in a series of furious tweets on Tuesday, claimed such “carnage” had never been seen before in recent history. “I’m not going to say anything about it (arson) since the Prime Minister has spoken.” I’m sure you’ve all heard it. We have not witnessed such slaughter in recent history, based on the magnitude of the carnage “”Nothing can be more heartbreaking in a democracy than mothers and children being burned alive,” Dhankhar remarked. I’m not going to say anything further about it.”
The Calcutta High Court took suo motu cognizance of the violence in Birbhum, which is suspected to be in retaliation for the murder of a panchayat official with ties to the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). The court ordered the West Bengal government to submit a status report on the arson incident in Birbhum district within 24 hours. The horrible occurrence resulted in the deaths of at least eight persons. The case was heard by a court consisting of Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj.
The court ordered the Bengal government to install CCTV cameras in the vicinity and requested that a team from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Delhi be rushed to the location to gather evidence.
“Don’t throw away any evidence.” Every villager and witness will have to be protected by the district court and the state Director General of Police. “Any autopsy that is scheduled will have to be videotaped,” the bench said.
In the early hours of Tuesday, unknown miscreants set fire to their houses in Rampurhat hamlet, killing at least eight people. The event occurred shortly after the reported assassination of TMC panchayat leader Bhadu Sheikh, who had been assaulted the day before with homemade explosives.
The West Bengal government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the event, which will be led by Additional Director General (CID) Gyanwant Singh. In connection with the case, 22 persons have been detained thus far.
