‘Awaiting govt’s nod to prosecute cops’

The report,which was placed on Thursday,stated that the central agency wrote a letter to the government on December 5 last year seeking the sanction to prosecute the officers. Later,the government sought clarification from the CBI on the issue. The CBI sent its clarification on April 17 this year. Since then,the state has not taken any action in the matter.

Sukumar Jana,who lost his relative in the firing,had filed a petition alleging that they were in the dark about CBI’s probe.

In February,The Indian Express reported that the government had issued showcause notices to five IPS officers asking them to state their roles in the police firing. Arun Gupta,Ganji Srinivas,Debashis Boral,N Rameshbabu and Satyajit Banerjee had come under the scanner of the CBI. The agency had earlier sought approval from the state government to prosecute the officers. Gupta was then IG (Western Range) and Srinivas SP of East Midnapore when the firing took place. Satyajit Banerjee was part of the police team that fired on the protesters. Boral was sub-divisional police officer of Tamluk at the time of the firing.