Kolkata, Feb 27 After a prolonged tug-of-war, the West Bengal Police on Friday agreed to hand over the case diary in the recent Beldanga violence case in minority-dominated Murshidabad district to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the matter following clearances from the Calcutta High Court as well as the Supreme Court.
The state police also informed a trial court in Kolkata of its decision to transfer the case diary to the NIA. The court subsequently remanded seven accused to seven days of NIA custody. The remaining 24 accused will remain in judicial custody during this period.
On Friday, when the trial court directed the state police to hand over the case diary to the NIA, counsel for the state police offered to transfer the documents immediately within the courtroom.
However, the NIA’s counsel declined the offer and insisted that the formal protocol be followed, with the case diary being handed over at the NIA office in Kolkata. The state police later agreed to comply with the procedure.
In January this year, tension and violence broke out in Beldanga following the circulation of alleged fake information about the murder of a migrant worker from the area in neighbouring Jharkhand. The Jharkhand Police later termed the death a case of suicide, citing the post-mortem report.
Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, had approached the Calcutta High Court seeking an NIA probe into the violence.
After the High Court permitted the NIA to investigate the case, the West Bengal government moved the Supreme Court seeking to quash the order for an NIA probe.
The apex court, however, declined to interfere. Despite this, the impasse continued for some time, with the state police initially refusing to hand over the case diary to the central agency.
--IANS
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