After nearly a dozen houses were set ablaze in Bengal’s Birbhum district, two children are among the eight people reported dead so far in a suspected fallout of the murder of a ruling TMC panchayat official.
Altogether 11 people have been arrested so far, and the West Bengal government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Additional Director General (CID) Gyanwant Singh to probe the incident, state police chief Manoj Malviya said.
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The residents of Bogtui village on the outskirts of Rampurhat town were jolted out of sleep by the deafening sounds of bomb explosions. They tried to douse the flames and called the police and fire brigade for help, as flames leapt from one thatched house to another, killing seven people including two children, while another person who was rescued died later in a hospital.
Najira Bibi, one of those who managed to survive, told PTI from her hospital bed at Rampurhat, We were sleeping and suddenly heard the sound of bombs the miscreants set our houses on fire. I managed to escape but don’t know what happened to others in the family.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar went for each other’s jugular over the incident.
Centre Seeks Report.
The Home Ministry has sought a report on the incident of arson within 72 hours.
Joint Secretary-level officers of the Home Ministry will visit Bengal soon, Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar said after meeting Amit Shah, and called for the immediate resignation of Mamata Banerjee, who also handles the Home department.
The BJP’s Bengal unit has also written to Home Minister Amit Shah about the allegedly deteriorating law and order situation in the state.
The party’s MPs from Bengal, who are in the national capital for the Parliament session, met the Home Minister to discuss the law and order situation of Bengal.
Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar extended his condolences to the families of victims and tweeted: “Horrifying violence and arson orgy #Rampurhat #Birbhum indicates state is in grip of violence culture and lawlessness. Already eight lives lost. Have sought urgent update on the incident from Chief Secretary. My thoughts are with the families of the bereaved.”
BJP president J P Nadda constituted a five-member committee, which includes four MPs, to visit the site of the tragedy.
The members of the fact-finding committee are former Uttar Pradesh DGP Brij Lal, former Mumbai police commissioner Satya Pal Singh, former IPS officer K C Ramamurthy, West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar — all MPs — and former IPS officer Bharati Ghosh.
The incident, West Bengal DGP Malviya said, occurred hours after the killing of TMC’s Barshal village panchayat’s deputy chief Bhadu Sheikh around 8.30 pm on Monday.
“The situation is now under control and a police picket has been established in the village since last night. We are investigating how the houses caught fire and whether the incident is related to the death of the TMC panchayat leader, which appears to be due to a deep-rooted personal enmity,” he said.
“We are not confirming that the fire was because of retaliation for other incidents. It is being looked into. If it was, it was due to a deep-rooted personal enmity,” Malviya said.
The Sub-divisional Police Officer concerned an officer in-charge of Rampurhat police station have been removed from active policing duty, the DGP said.
The TMC despatched a three-member team of lawmakers led by minister Firhad Hakim to the spot to take stock of the situation.
“Horrifying violence and arson orgy #Rampurhat #Birbhum indicates state is in grip of violence culture and lawlessness,” Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who has been locked in a protracted feud with the Mamata Banerjee government, tweeted, and sought an update from the chief secretary.
Banerjee hit right back, shooting off a letter to Dhankhar, saying “It pains me that you have chosen an unfortunate incident in Rampurhat to pass sweeping, uncalled for comments on law and order situation in the state. This incident is unfortunate.”