The CBI registered a case and began investigations into the Netai massacre today,even as the West Bengal government considered appealing in the Supreme Court last week's Calcutta High Court order that handed the probe to the central agency. Till early evening,however,the West Bengal CID had not handed over custody of either the case documents or the two CPM leaders arrested in connection with the murders. Nine villagers were killed on January 7 this year in Netai village in Lalgarh,allegedly by CPM cadres. The FIR named six CPM leaders. The state CID drew flak from the High Court for failing to examine members of the CPM's Lalgarh local committee. At a hearing on February 18,the court expressed strong disapproval over the pace of the probe,and took it out of the CID's hands. The case will now be monitored and supervised by Keshav Kumar,a joint director of the CBI based in Delhi,who also supervised the probe into the Jnaneswari Express derailment. A CBI team is likely to visit Netai tomorrow. The two arrested CPM leaders,Ashwini Chalak and Abani Singh,will be produced in court on Thursday. Besides Ashwini and Abani,the FIR named CPM Lalgarh local committee secretary Joydeb Giri,CPM zonal committee member Fullara Mondal,and two villagers,Rathin Dandapat and Tapan Dey. The CBI takeover of the case has sent some ripples of apprehension through the CPM. "We were shocked when Abani dragged in the Lalgarh local committee during his interrogation. Fullara and Joydeb were asked to go underground after the incident. This is a conspiracy hatched by the Trinamool Congress to malign the CPM before the Assembly elections," said a CPM zonal committee member of Lalgarh. Dahareswar Sen,a CPM district committee leader,said,"We will cooperate in the investigation,though it is clear that this is a conspiracy of the Trinamool. Mamata Banerjee had made false allegations against the CPM at the time of the Jnaneswari incident as well."
