Rohit Kumar
NEW DELHI, Apr 3: Even as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) at the behest of the Election Commission of India (ECI) took over the probe into the “gherao” of seven judicial officers by irate voters in Malda district in West Bengal, the alleged “mastermind” of the operation advocate Mofakkarul Islam, said to be an AIMIM activist, was arrested by the state police on Friday.
An NIA team visited Mothabari and Kaliachak police stations in Malda to probe into the gherao of seven judicial officers by protesting locals over the deletion of names in the SIR exercise, officials said. The 24-member team of the federal anti-terror probe agency, led by a DIG-ranked official, 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 NIA officials also visited neighboring Kaliachak police station since a stretch of the National Highway 12 under its purview was blocked by the demonstrators, a senior district police official said.
The Election Commission on Thursday had asked NIA to probe the violence in Malda district where seven judicial officers were gheraoed by a mob on Wednesday evening. Seven judicial officers who had gone to Kaliachak for judicial adjudication work were gheraoed by a mob for several hours at Kaliachak block II Malda. The police had to rescue the officials late on Wednesday night.
Mofakkarul Islam was reportedly arrested while trying to board a flight to escape. The arrest took place at Siliguri’s Bagdogra airport, two days after seven judicial officers were held hostage for eight hours. “He is the mastermind of the Kaliachak incident in which seven judicial officers were gheraoed inside a BDO office for several hours on Wednesday night. He was trying to board a flight to flee,” a senior officer said.
Jayaraman, Inspector General of Police, North Bengal told media persons on Friday that Islam was intercepted and detained while fleeing the State from Bagdogra airport. He added that 35 persons were arrested for the violence and a total of 19 cases have been registered in Mothabari and Kaliachak police stations. Besides the alleged mastermind, the police also arrested the local Indian Secular Front (ISF) candidate taking the total number of arrests till now to 35. The police officer said people have a right to protest but they cannot resort to violence.
Three women were also part of the team of officers who were held hostage and they were tasked with adjudicating cases of voters whose names had been marked “under adjudication” in the draft electoral rolls published on February 28. The SIR drive faced big opposition in parts of West Bengal as protesters burned tyres, blocked roads in Malda, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Purba Bardhaman, slated to go to polls on April 23.
The Supreme Court had taken strong objection to the hostage-taking of judges and called it “deplorable well-planned act” to browbeat the judiciary. The court also lashed out at the “complete failure of civil and police administration” in Bengal. “This is not a routine incident…it ex facie appears to be a calculated and deliberate move to demoralize judicial officers and obstruct them from discharging their duties,” a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi had said and held it as an attempt to challenge the authority of the apex court.
Mofakkarul Islam, a lawyer by profession and resident of Itahar, was seen making speeches outside the Block Development Office and urging the crowd not to leave the area. He had contested the 2021 Assembly polls as a candidate of AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen).
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Thursday urged people not to resort to violence and said the game plan of the BJP was to impose President’s rule in the state. Ms Banerjee had said all the officials of the State government have been transferred and she has no control left over the administration. The BJP leadership has claimed that the violence was a result of remarks made by Chief Minister on SIR.
“Nobody informed me about the incident in Malda yesterday. I got to know (about it) from a journalist. The Chief Secretary has not called me till today,” Ms Banerjee said while addressing a public meeting.
“The Election Commission (EC) has deleted 1.20 crore names. The game plan of the BJP is to impose President’s rule in the State. Do not fall into the trap, do not obstruct judges,” the Trinamool Congress chairperson said. She told the people that if they did not want the State to be ruled by the BJP, they should not resort to violence.
Ms Banerjee, who held public meetings at Sagardighi and Suti in Murshidabad district, asked people not to fall into the “BJP’s trap” of riots. She blamed the poll panel for “failing to protect” the judicial officers. “I have no powers left today. This is the fault of the EC, it could not protect judges,” she said.
The Chief Minister expressed disappointment over the incident and said there was an attempt to defame West Bengal. “Everything was ruined by that one incident. I don’t know who did this, but it was definitely planned. Now they are trying to cancel the election. They are saying that the State’s election system is bad just because of this one incident,” she said.
The BJP leadership held a press conference in Delhi and Kolkata and accused the ruling Trinamool of instigating the mob. “Afraid of losing the elections following the deletion of names of bogus voters, the Trinamool has mobilized jihadi elements in the district and orchestrated this unconstitutional, illegal agitation, keeping judicial officers, magistrates, including women confined in the extreme heat, humid conditions for hours,” BJP state spokesperson Debajit Sarkar said.
Ms Banerjee on the other hand blamed the AIMIM and ISF for the “gherao” and accused the Congress and the BJP of instigation. Stating that the “mastermind” of the incident was arrested by the state CID police, the only police organization still under her control, she said the BJP “loaned” Islam from the AIMIM and brought him to Malda. “ISF is with them; Congress and BJP have also provided instigation,” the Trinamool Congress chief alleged.
She questioned why the Assembly polls cannot be conducted with the same electoral rolls, which were used in the 2024 general elections. “If the voter list contained names of infiltrators, Mr Narendra Modi also won with their votes earlier, so he should resign first,” she said.
She also alleged that “money is being brought in using CRPF vehicles,” claiming that she knows where these were going. “I have a record of these movements and will expose them at the appropriate time,” she said. Ms Banerjee said the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in West Bengal during the polls would lead to a reduction in the BJP’s vote share. Mr Shah has said he would camp in West Bengal during the elections.
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