WB violence: CBI to probe murder cases

HC says SIT will probe all other cases

Kolkata, Aug. 19: Observing that there are “definite and proved” allegations that complaints of the victims of violence in the aftermath of the West Bengal Assembly polls were not even registered, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday ordered a CBI investigation in all alleged cases of heinous crimes like rape and murder, while accepting the recommendations of an NHRC panel.

A five-judge bench, passing a unanimous judgement on a batch of PILs seeking an independent probe into incidents of alleged violence after the polls which the ruling TMC won by an overwhelming majority, also ordered constitution of an SIT to probe all other cases.

The SIT will include Suman Bala Sahoo, Soumen Mitra and Ranveer Kumar, all IPS officers of the West Bengal cadre.

“All the cases where, as per the report of the Committee, the allegations are about murder of a person and crime against women regarding rape/attempt to rape, shall be referred to CBI for investigation,” the bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and justices I.P. Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Subrata Talukdar, ordered. It directed the NHRC committee, constituted by its chairman

on a direction by the five-judge bench, and any other commission or authority and the state to immediately hand over the records of the cases to the CBI to carry forward the probe. The bench will monitor the investigations

by both the CBI and the SIT and asked the two agencies to submit status reports to the court within six weeks.

It said that the working of the SIT will be overseen by a retired Judge of the Supreme Court.