Bengal: NIA team probing Malda gherao case videographs incident spot, to grill ‘mastermind’ soon
Kolkata: A team of NIA officials, probing the gherao of seven judicial officers engaged in the SIR exercise, videographed the incident spot on the second day of their visit to Mothabari in Malda Saturday, a senior district official said.
The NIA has been tasked by the Election Commission to investigate the Wednesday incident, following a directive from the Supreme Court, which has censured the West Bengal administration over the issue.
The 24-member team of the federal anti-terror probe agency, led by a DIG-ranked official, videographed the Mothabari BDO office and the area outside where a mob had assembled, refusing to let the judicial officers go till they were allowed to meet, the district official said.
A source in the NIA said the federal probe agency team will soon interrogate the “mastermind” behind the incident.
A former AIMIM candidate was arrested Friday, with police describing him as the “mastermind” behind Wednesday’s blockade and gherao in Malda’s Kaliachak area.
The NIA team will also speak to the seven judicial officers, currently lodged in different hotels of Malda town, to get their account of the incident, the source said.
A total of 19 cases have been registered, and 35 arrests have been made in the matter so far.
On the first day of the visit, the NIA team spoke to police and other personnel at Mothabari and collected samples from the spot where a mob had gathered and allegedly hurled bricks at vehicles when security forces had tried to lift the blockade.
The unrest began on Wednesday morning when residents of Mothabari, Sujapur and adjoining areas blocked NH-12 to protest against the alleged deletion of names from the electoral rolls during the SIR exercise.
As the agitation spread, the seven judicial officers engaged in the revision process were confined inside the Kaliachak-II block office from around 4 pm till nearly midnight. They could be rescued only after the police dispersed the crowd.
PTI
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