Guwahati: The Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered a CBI investigation into Birbhum violence that claimed eight people were burnt alive after their houses were set on fire on March 22.
The court ordered the West Bengal government’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) to hand over case papers and suspects arrested to the central investigation agency.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been ordered to file a progress report by April 7, the next date of hearing in the case, by a division bench consisting of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice R Bharadwaj.
The CBI investigation was ordered by the bench in the interest of justice.
In the purported aftermath of a TMC panachayat official’s murder, eight persons, including two children, were burnt to death in Bogtui village in Bengal’s Birbhum district.
The matter of the terrible occurrence had been taken up by the bench on its own initiative.
It may be mentioned that along with the suo motu petition, the court heard a batch of PILs demanding a CBI or NIA investigation into the incident.