Kolkata: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Monday submitted its first chargesheet on the 21 March Birbhum killings before the Rampurhat court in West Bengal. This comes 89 days after the central agency took over the investigation into the violence that claimed 10 lives, on the Calcutta High Court’s orders.
The 1,193-page chargesheet, which ThePrint has accessed, named 18 accused including the ruling Trinamool Congress’ Rampurhat Block 1 president Anarul Hossain, and two juveniles.
It stated that Hossain had instigated the residents of Birbhum district’s Bogtui, triggering the violence that gripped the village after local Trinamool leader Bhadu Sheikh’s death.
The agency also filed a separate chargesheet in connection with its investigation of Bhadu Sheikh’s murder.
CBI officials examined four sets of CCTV footage, the agency claimed in its chargesheet on the violence. These were taken from Rampurhat Hospital, Rampurhat police station, a petrol pump from were fuel was allegedly procured to carry out arson, and visuals of the spot where Bhadu was murdered.
At 9.03 pm on March 21, Hossain was at Rampurhat Hospital — where villagers from Bogtui had gathered after getting the news of Bhadu Sheikh’s death — and he played an active role in instigating them, the document further said.
The CBI claimed that since Hossain was block president, Bogtui villagers reached out to him over the phone when the violence broke out, but he responded by saying: “Our man was killed, this will happen.” It has also booked Hossain for tampering with evidence as he, according to the chargesheet, had erased call data from his mobile phone, which the agency later recovered.
The chargesheet said that nine homes were set ablaze in three locations in Bogtui. Of the eight persons charred to death, one was a male and the rest were female. Later in the hospital, two more victims succumbed to their injuries, taking the death toll to 10.
The families who were killed had locked their homes from inside. The mob first hurled bombs, then used petrol or kerosene to set the houses ablaze. They returned in the wee hours the next day after police left the spot, and broke open the doors of the houses to make sure that the victims had died, the chargesheet said.
The CBI has filed its chargesheet under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 435 (mischief by fire or explosive substance), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house) and 460 (house-trespass at night causing death or grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Apart from these sections, Anarul Hossain has additionally been charged under section 109 (abetment).
Also Read: Bikes afire, explosions, cries of ‘bachao’: residents recount night of Birbhum massacre
‘Delayed response by police being probed’
The CBI has also claimed that there was a “delayed response” on the part of the police. The chargesheet said that one of the victims had dialled the Rampurhat police station when the violence broke out at Bogtui and houses were being bombed.
One of the telephone calls lasted about 30 seconds, but police did not reach the spot to control the situation, it further said, adding that police entered Bogtui almost 50 minutes after the violence broke out, when the houses were already in flames.
Agency sleuths told ThePrint on condition of anonymity that the roles of police and the Rampurhat fire department are still under investigation, and police officers are likely to get notices to join the investigation in the next stage.
What triggered the violence?
The CBI in its chargesheet said it has seized evidence that establishes that the Trinamool’s deputy gram panchayat leader Bhadu Sheikh would collect “illegal money” from trucks laden with sand, stone chips and coal.
The large sums of money collected had led to rivalry between Bhadu Sheikh’s gang, and the gang of Sona Sheikh and Palash Sheikh. Palash, a prime suspect in Bhadu Sheikh’s murder, is absconding.
Bhadu’s brother Babur was killed on 5 January 2021, and Bhadu suspected the role of Sona and Palash, the chargesheet said. The chain of killings in Bogtui had escalated after one of Bhadu’s gang members was assaulted by Palash. An FIR was registered and Palash was imprisoned shortly after. After the rivalry escalated, Bhadu was murdered on 21 March, a few steps away from his two-storey house in Bogtui. Hours later, in retaliation, the village was burning. Sona Shiekh’s house was also among those set ablaze, the chargesheet added.
The CBI’s 180-page chargesheet on Bhadu Sheikh’s murder names four accused — Mahi Sheikh, Safi Sheikh, Palash and Sanju Sheikh. Palash and Safi are both absconding.
The accused have been booked under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), and 34 (common intention) of the IPC. The CBI has also charged the accused with sections of the Arms Act, 1959, and the Explosive Substances Act, 1883.
Dying declarations, a 10-year-old’s statement
One of the officers involved in the probe told ThePrint on condition of anonymity that 21 investigating officers (IOs) were deputed in Rampurhat to carry out the investigation.
The central agency flew down officers from Guwahati, Ranchi, Dhanbad, Imphal and Shillong. Along with officers of the agency’s Special Crime Branch and Anti-Corruption Branch at Kolkata, these officers stayed at a temporary CBI camp in Rampurhat and began investigations in Bogtui, which was later abandoned by its residents.
As stated in the CBI chargesheets, 116 witnesses were examined in the Birbhum violence investigation and 44 witnesses were examined in probe into Bhadu Sheikh’s murder. The CBI has also added, in its annexure, the dying declaration of two victims of the Birbhum violence, and five statements of victims recorded in the presence of a judicial magistrate. This also includes the statement of a 10-year-old boy who witnessed the violence.
In a press release issued Monday evening, the CBI said it collected evidence using scientific methods. In the initial stage of the investigation, no witnesses were forthcoming due to fear, but after sustained efforts by the agency, several of them came forward and their statements were recorded, it added.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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