West Bengal: CID serves notice to 6 CISF officials, summons on Tuesday over Sitalkuchi firing
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the West Bengal Police has issued a notice to four constables and one inspector of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and a deputy commandant of the force in connection with the April 10 firing incident in Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar district.
FollowMere hours after West Bengal CM Mamata and her council of ministers were sworn in on Monday, the state govt's CID has served a notice to 4 CISF constables, 1 CISF inspector and 1 CISF deputy commandant to appear before it on Tuesday, in connection to the Sitalkuchi firing incident.
A special investigating team (SIT) under DIG CID Kalyan Mukhopadhyay has been formed to carry out the investigation in the case.
Five people were killed in firing in Cooch Behar district during the fourth phase of West Bengal polls on April 10. Post-mortem reports of four people killed in the incident suggested that “bullets were fired at them from back at medium range – a distance of 14 metres”.
A day after taking oath as Chief Minister for the third consecutive term, Mamata Banerjee said on May 6 that her government will provide jobs of home guard to one family member each of all five persons killed in Sitalkuchi.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that the CISF shot the deceased “in the chest or neck”.
“This is a genocide. They sprayed bullets. They could have shot on the leg or below the knee but every bullet hit them in the neck or chest area,” she had said at a press conference in Siliguri, adding that "the CISF has no idea about controlling mobs and they are trained for industrial areas".
Amid the election phases, BJP I-T chief Amit Malviya shared an alleged audio clip between Mamata Banerjee and TMC's Sitalkuchi candidate Partho Pratim Roy in which the Trinamool chief is heard instructing Roy to preserve the bodies of the victims to 'parade them the next day'. She is also heard allegedly telling Roy to file a 'strong FIR' with the help of a lawyer, after the election is over.
“Post the violence in Sitalkuchi, Mamata Banerjee wanted to take out a procession with bodies of those who died trying to capture booth 126. She spoke about framing the SP and IC for doing their job, asked TMC’s candidate to spread misinformation about detention centers to scare Muslims,” Malviya had said in a tweet.
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