The CBI on Tuesday raided a Trinamool Congress (TMC) party office in connection with its ongoing probe into the post-poll violence in West Bengal. Four representatives of the Central agency visited the TMC office in Ilambazar to investigate the death of BJP activist Gaurab Sarkar, who was killed in the violence. The TMC has, however, termed the development as a “political conspiracy”. This is the first time that the CBI has raided a TMC office in the state in its ongoing probe into the violence.
On 2 May, the day the results of the Assembly elections were announced, Gaurab Sarkar was allegedly beaten to death in Gopalnagar village. The BJP district leadership has alleged that TMC workers from a victory procession attacked Sarkar, who died on the spot. The CBI arrested a man named Dilip Mridha on Monday after investigating the incident. On Tuesday, CBI officials also went to the TMC office and issued a notice to the secretary.
Babar Ali, secretary of the TMC office in Ilambazar, said four CBI representatives came and spoke for about 30 minutes. They wanted some phone numbers and addresses. The TMC leadership has issued a notice on behalf of the CBI, seeking information on the names, addresses and phone numbers of the booth committee members in Gopalnagar village, including the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the 2021 Assembly elections.
Trinamool block president Fazlrul Rahman alleged that there was “political connivance” behind the arrival of the Central sleuths in the party office. Rahman alleged that this was a BJP conspiracy to tarnish the image of the ruling TMC.
The CBI has already filed four chargesheets related to the post-poll violence probe. The number of cases has also increased. The CBI has filed three more FIRs. The number of cases has increased to 34. Of the three new cases, one is in Nadia district and two in North 24 Parganas. Last Saturday, two people were arrested by the CBI in connection with the death of a BJP activist, Dharma Mandal, who was killed in Nadia’s Hridoypur grampanchayat. The arrested Asima Ghosh and Vijay Ghosh are being brought to Chapra police station for questioning. They were the first to be arrested in the post-poll violence probe.
A total of 64 investigating officers or IOs, including inspectors and DSPs, are investigating the post-poll violence cases. Besides, there are 25 officers in this team of the rank of Joint Director, DIG, SP. Each zonal team consists of 21 investigating officers or IOs. Most of them are DIG and SP rank officers. The CBI had on 28 August filed 11 FIRs in 15 cases of alleged murder and six cases of rape. FIRs have been filed on multiple charges like murder, attempted murder, illegal possession of firearms, kidnapping, intrusion. Another 10 FIRs were filed last Saturday. On 29 August, seven more FIRs were lodged. Later, four more FIRs were filed in two separate cases.