The Special Investigation Team of the CID probing the Sitalkuchi firing case is likely to move court to secure the appearance of six Central Industrial Security Force personnel after they failed to turn up for interrogation on Tuesday, relevant sources said.
The new Mamata Banerjee Government had formed the SIT soon after returning to power with a thumping majority. The new Government also suspended Cooch Behar SP Debashis Dhar to facilitate the investigations.
Dhar had submitted a report to the Election Commission saying about 300 people had attacked the stated booth leading the central forces to open fire.
The Election Commission after conducting a preliminary inquiry into the proceedings had said that the firing was resorted to under a justifying condition.
Four persons had died when the CISF opened fire at an alleged crowd of attackers outside a polling booth — in the fourth phase of Bengal Assembly elections— at Sitalkuchi in Mathabhanga sub-division of Cooch Behar district bordering Assam in North Bengal.
The SIT led by a DIG level officer had summoned an Assistant Commandant, an Inspector and four other personnel of the CISF. The respondents did not appear before the investigators after State police turned down a CISF request to appear digitally citing pandemic situation, sources said.
“A petition seeking court order directing the respondents to appear before the investigating team is not ruled out,” sources in the CID said.
The SIT on Tuesday subjected sub-inspector Gobinda Das— who was among the first to reach the area after the firing — to a marathon grilling. It has also summoned Sub-divisional Police Officer of Mathabhanga Surajit Mandal on Wednesday. The then SP Dhar is also likely to be summoned soon, sources said. The officials are likely to be asked as to who ordered the firing, what they saw prima facie after visiting the site and whether they had formed any opinion about who provoked the firing.
They are also likely to be asked as to whether any alternative measures could have been taken instead of resorting to firing, officials said.
The Chief Minister had earlier wondered “why the CISF had resorted to firing in the first instance and why they did not target the victims below their wastes and why most of the bullets were fired through the chest or head of the victims.”
Meanwhile the State BJP leadership once again accused Banerjee for her appeasement politics saying, “instead of taking steps to control post-poll violence which is taking communal turn she is indulging in petty appeasement politics.”
Saying that “the truth will finally come out despite her efforts to implicate the central forces,” a BJP MLA said “she is trying to hit two birds in a shot … first she is trying to inspire the criminals of her party by ordering a probe in their favour and more importantly she is trying to demoralize the central forces so that they hesitate to take strong action in subsequent elections.”