Panchayat member’s murder: Bengal to appeal against HC order

Kolkata, Sep 25 (IANS) The West Bengal government is mulling an appeal against the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday ordering a CBI probe into the murder of a panchayat member in Birbhum district in which a leader of the ruling party is allegedly involved.

The Central Bureau of investigation is already probing the multi-crore rupee Saradha scam and has arrested and grilled several Trinamool leaders and their aides.

Observing that the investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by the Director General of West Bengal Police G.M.P. Reddy was "tainted by extraneous influence", the bench of Justice Harish Tandon directed the CBI to probe all aspects of the murder of Sagar Ghosh in Birbhum district in July 2013.

Ghosh, an independent panchayat member, was killed days after Birbhum Trinamool president Anubrata Mondal gave an inflammatory speech inciting party workers to resort to violence against independent candidates and hurl bombs at the police if they were prevented.

While Mondal was named in the first information report (FIR) by the victim’s family, the SIT dropped his name from the charge sheet that it filed before a court in Birbhum, which is hearing the murder case.

Questioning the SIT giving a "clean chit" to Mondal, the court expressed its strong displeasure over the DGP disclosing the investigation report that was "never meant to be disclosed to the government or its lawyer or the petitioner.

Directing the SIT to handover the investigation and cooperate with the CBI, the court said it will monitor the probe with the central agency updating the court about its investigation from time to time.

State counsel Kalyan Banerjee whose plea for a stay on the order was rejected by the court, later said the state government will be moving a division bench in appeal.

Alleging that the state police tried to shield the perpetrators, Ghosh’s son Hriday had approached the high court, seeking a CBI probe.

The Court verdict has been welcomed by the opposition.

State BJP president Rahul Sinha hoped the Mamata Banerjee-led government will now wake up after yet another jolt from the court.

"The court verdict is a welcome move, especially considering the way the chief minister and her entire police was shamelessly protecting and shielding Mondal. Hopefully this government will learn its lesson now after yet another jolt from the court," said Sinha.

CPI-M leader Shyamal Chakrabarty too welcomed the move and said the court has instilled confidence among the common people who have been losing their faith in the Mamata Banerjee administration.