Calcutta HC Orders Central Forces in Murshidabad; Open to NIA Probe
"In our opinion, the repeated incidents in Murshidabad are worrisome. Effective and immediate measures are required to be taken...The state must utilise the central armed forces already deployed in Murshidabad": The Bench
KOLKATA: In a major embarrassment to the Trinamul Congress, the Calcutta High Court ordered the West Bengal government on Tuesday to deploy Central forces immediately in violence-hit Beldanga in Murshidabad.
A division bench of Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen, who passed the order, also kept the door open to the Centre to order a NIA probe into the two-day unrest last week following the death of a migrant worker in Jharkhand and the attack on another in Bihar.
The bench noted, "In our opinion, the repeated incidents in Murshidabad are worrisome. Effective and immediate measures are required to be taken...The state must utilise the central armed forces already deployed in Murshidabad. Ensure that no repetition of such incidents takes place."
It directed the state government to file an affidavit within 15 days detailing the incidents and specific actions taken while instructing the superintendent of police and the district magistrate of Murshidabad to ensure that the lives, liberties, dignity and property of citizens are not jeopardised.
Leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari, who had filed a petition in the court over the violence, later posted on his X handle that the court “directed today the deployment of 5 companies of BSF as available in Beldanga and full utilisation thereof by the State.”
He pointed out that the Centre has been directed to deploy more forces in Murshidabad if needed. “The Central Government has been further directed to decide under section 6(5) of the NIA Act as to whether the incident can be investigated by the NIA,” Adhikari stated.
