A vacation bench of the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed the West Bengal government to submit a “comprehensive report” and produce the case diary in connection with the mob attack on BJP MP Khagen Murmu and BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh during their visit to flood-hit Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri district. So far, police have arrested five persons in connection with the October 6 incident in which the BJP MP was critically injured. He is still recuperating in a hospital. MLA Ghosh was discharged last week. Following the mob attack, BJP leader Bijon Goswami had filed a petition in the High Court demanding a probe by central agencies. Stating that the West Bengal Police did not register the FIR on the charge of murder attempt, the BJP leader asked the court to transfer the probe to either the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) or the NIA (National Investigation Agency). During the hearing, Advocate General Kishore Datta, representing the state government, told the court that a public interest litigation (PIL) with similar prayers has also been filed and sought the transfer of the two petitions to the same circuit bench in Jalpaiguri. “The maintainability of the case is to be kept open,” Datta added. The PIL, filed by advocate Anindiya Sundor Das, has also demanded an NIA probe. The PIL stated that since the incident took place close to the Bangladesh border, investigators should examine whether any “infiltrators” were involved in the incident. Hours after the mob attack, Jalpaiguri police had registered an FIR against eight persons under various sections, including the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, since Murmu is a tribal leader. According to the police, all those arrested are residents of Khayerbari in Nagrakata. They have been identified as Etwa Oraon (40) alias Dharea, Govind Sharma (42), Akramul Haque, Sahanur Alam (30) alias Mannan, and Tofayel Hossain (36) alias Milan.
