Mominpur violence: NIA files FIR, probe begins on MHA's order
A case has been registered by the
National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the anti-Hindu violence in Mominpur in
West Bengal, news agency ANI has reported citing sources.
As per sources, the Ministry of Home
Affairs (MHA) has ordered the NIA to probe into the matter.
The move comes after the Counter
Terrorism and Counter Radicalization (CTCR) division of the Ministry of Home
Affairs (MHA) directed the agency to register a First Information Report (FIR)
and start a thorough probe considering the gravity of the case.
MHA's order followed the recent
direction of Calcutta High Court which earlier this month, while hearing a writ
petition relating to the Ekbalpore-Mominpur communal violence, ordered the
state police for the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising
of experienced police officials to probe into the incident.
The petitioners had approached the Court
alleging that the State Police administration remained silent spectators to the
communal violence that erupted in the Ekbalpore-Mominpur area of Kolkata on the
eve of Laxmi Puja.
Accordingly, the petitioners prayed for
the deployment of the Central Para Military Forces to maintain peace in the
aftermath of the violence, and for the transfer of the investigation of the
crimes to the NIA, alleging the inefficiency of the State Police to investigate
the matter in a fair manner.
The Court looked at preliminary reports
filed before it. It noted that five criminal cases had already been registered
over the incident under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 and the Arms Act,
1959, the investigation of which cases was in progress. The Court also noted
that as per the preliminary report, 42 persons were arrested, 15 live bombs, 4
crude bombs and various other weapons had already been seized, and that Section
144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was promulgated in the area.
The court observed that for the Central
Government to decide whether a given case may be investigated by the NIA,
keeping in mind the gravity of the offence and other relevant factors it was
not for the Court to answer that in the first instance.
A clash between two communities at Mominpur in Kolkata led to communal tension and many houses in the Mayurbhanj area were ransacked and cars destroyed late on October 9.
No comments:
Post a Comment