West Bengal: 20 local youths arrested for Birbhum carnage

RAMPURHAT: Nine more persons have been arrested in connection with Monday's Bogtui killings, taking the total number of accused in custody to 20 in the past 24 hours. All the accused are local residents and in the age group of 20-25 years. They are among the 22 named in the FIR. Lawyers refused to represent them when they were brought to court on Wednesday.
Rampurhat additional chief judicial magistrate Souvik De called the incident "gruesome, ghastly and barbaric" while remanding 10 among the accused in police custody for 14 days.The rest were sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
Since no lawyer represented the 20, the magistrate asked the accused if they had anything to tell the court. Some among them told the magistrate that they had "no connection with the incident" and "have not committed any crime". Taking note of their submissions, the magistrate directed the subdivisional legal service committee chairman to appoint lawyers for the accused.
A team from the State Forensic Science Laboratory meanwhile inspected the crime scene in Bogtui. According to sources, the forensic experts found "traces of blood" in the fire-ravaged house inside which seven charred bodies were found. The presence of blood, sources said, could indicate that the victims were first attacked. It has been alleged that the accused were armed with weapons and bombs, besides petrol.
Sources further said that the bodies were found in a heap, which shouldn't have been the case if the victims were desperately trying to escape.
At Nabanna, CM Mamata Banerjee held a high-level meeting to take stock of the investigations with chief secretary H K Dwivedi and home secretary B P Gopalika. Banerjee also spoke to DGP Manoj Malaviya and ADG (CID) Gyanwant Singh, heading the SIT, who are now stationed in Rampurhat to closely monitor the probe.
Police have charged all the 20 accused with murder, arson and rioting. The 10 remanded in police custody are Ajad Chowdhury, Intaj Sheikh, Mafijul Sheikh, Asim Sheikh, Rustam Sheikh, Rohan Sheikh, Nayan Dewan, Mafiuddin Sheikh, Nazir Hossain, and Tousib Sheikh.
"Bengal has never seen such a heinous crime before. Police need the 10 for custodial interrogation," public prosecutor Surajit Sinha said. "It is not that police do not need to interrogate the rest. They can be grilled later," Sinha added.
District’s top intel officer suspended:
The Bengal government on Wednesday suspended the district intelligence officer in Birbhum following the Bogtoi mass murders. Eleven civic volunteers have also been suspended. Earlier, the state government had shunted out the Rampurhat inspector-in-charge and the SDPO. The district’s top intelligence officer was suspended for failing to provide timely, and actionable, alerts on the murder of the Trinamool upapradhan and the subsequent retributive violence. The victims and their families have also questioned the role of local police, saying they responded very late. DGP Manoj Malaviya is now stationed in Rampurhat along with the SIT officers.
(With inputs from Someswar Boral)