Ram Navami violence: Calcutta HC transfers probe to NIA

Vehicles set on fire by miscreants during clashes, in Howrah district, on March 30. Pic/PTI

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) the probe into the violence at Shibpur in Howrah district during Ram Navami celebrations. BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, had filed a PIL seeking an NIA probe into the violence, during which it was alleged that bombs exploded.

A division bench presided by Acting Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam directed the state police to transfer all records and CCTV footage relating to the matter to the central government within two weeks. The Centre was directed to send the documents to the NIA thereafter.

TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said, "The plot of the BJP and the Union government is simple. First create communal tension and then pave the way for the entry of NIA. The NIA's entrance is never witnessed in the BJP-ruled states, just as the Central Bureau of Investigation does not arrest Suvendu Adhikari despite being named in the FIR for Narada sting operations."

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