West Bengal: CBI registers 10 more cases related to post-poll violence

Kolkata: The CBI has registered 10 more cases related to the alleged post-poll violence in West Bengal, taking the total number of such cases to 31, officials said Tuesday (August 31).

In the latest tranche of cases, six pertain to allegations of murder, two are of alleged gang rape and rape and the rest are related to assault, trespassing, and destruction of property, officials said.

"The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered ten more cases in compliance of the orders of Hon'ble High Court at Calcutta, passed in connection with WPA(P) 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149 & 167 of 2021, dated 19.08.2021 and taken over the investigation of these cases, earlier registered in different police stations of West Bengal on various allegations," CBI Spokesperson RC Joshi said.

He said the CBI has so far registered 31 cases and investigations are continuing. The High Court directives came following the submission of an NHRC committee report on the violence in the state after assembly election results were announced on May 2 declaring the victory of Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress over its main rival the BJP in a bitterly fought eight-phase electoral battle.

The cases registered by the agency include the murder of a resident of Jagdhari village whose body was found in a paddy field, an alleged gang rape in Birbhum district, and an alleged murder in the Ramnagar market in South 24 Parganas district.

One of the cases pertained to a murder in Jagatdal police station in North 24 Parganas where the victim was killed by crude bombs and firearms, officials said. In another case of murder and molestation in South 24 Parganas, the accused attacked the house of the complainant with an iron rod, bamboo, pistol and stick.

"It was further alleged that the accused tied the hands and feet of the complainant's husband and started beating him severely. When the complainant tried to save her husband, she was allegedly pushed down and molested. It was also alleged that the accused threw the blood-soaked victim in a jungle on the bank of a pond," Joshi said.

The next morning, the complainant, after getting information, rushed to a nursing home where her husband died, he said. The CBI also registered two cases of attack on complainants' houses and business establishments and loot in Purba Bardhaman and Howrah districts.

Two more cases of murders in Jhargram and Nandigram in Purba Medinipur have also been registered by the agency while one case of rape is registered in Purba Medinipur.

(With agency inputs)