The death of an accused in West Bengal’s infamous Bogtui case while in CBI custody has stirred the state’s politics.
Lalan Sheikh, an accused in the Bogtui arson case, was found hanging and was arrested earlier this month.
Ten persons were killed in Bogtui, a village in Birbhum district, after several huts were set on fire on March 21 this year following the murder of a local Trinamool politician, Bhadu Sheikh.
Lalan’s wife on Tuesday filed a complaint with police, after which a probe began, and the case was handed over to the state CID, which on Wednesday booked seven CBI officers. Locals on Tuesday also agitated in front of the temporary CBI office near Rampurhat in Birbhum. The development has drawn the ire of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee. “I condemn the incident, and if (the) CBI is so smart, why is he dead? And it is inside the custody, so they (state’s investigation agencies) have to take the details. I think his (Sheikh’s) wife lodged the FIR, and we will also raise the issue,” Mamata had said on Tuesday during a press conference in Shillong.
BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya termed Lalan’s death “unfortunate”. He said that people know who he was and what he did. As it is a court-monitored inquiry, and whatever is happening is as per court directives and supervision, the court will have the last word, he said, adding that the TMC wants all CBI-ED investigations in Bengal to stop.
CPI(M)’s Sujan Chakraborty on Wednesday said that it took nine months to arrest the main accused, and (in the context of) what’s developing centring him, there could only be a judicial investigation. The CID against the CBI, and vice versa, is part of the conventional Delhi versus state stands, Chakraborty said, adding that there is no alternative to a judicial investigation.