For the second time, the accused in the Beldanga case could not be produced before the NIA Special Court, allegedly due to the absence of police escort despite court directions.
As many as 36 accused persons were scheduled to be produced before the NIA court in Kolkata on Thursday. However, sources said that the Murshidabad district police did not provide escort personnel, citing shortage of force as the Higher Secondary examinations commenced from Thursday. According to sources, the district police sent a ‘radiogram’ message to the Berhampore Central Correctional Home authorities stating that adequate police personnel were unavailable due to deployment for examination duty. As a result, the jail authorities reportedly sought permission to produce the accused virtually before the court.
This is the second instance in which the accused could not be physically produced before the NIA court, triggering allegations of non-cooperation in the high-profile case. Murshidabad had witnessed widespread unrest in early January following the alleged murder of a labourer whose body was found hanging. Tension escalated after the body was brought back to the district, leading to protests by local residents. Demonstrators blocked roads by burning tyres and also obstructed railway tracks near Maheshpur on the Sealdah-Lalgola section.
Protesters reportedly placed bamboo poles across the tracks, and a photograph of the deceased hanging from a bamboo structure surfaced during the agitation. Police personnel who reached the spot faced resistance from agitated locals. Members of the media were also allegedly attacked while covering the unrest. Subsequently, the investigation into the incident was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) following directions from a Division Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, which ordered a probe by the central agency. However, allegations have surfaced that the state authorities are not extending full cooperation to the NIA in the Beldanga case. Sources claimed that the accused, categorised as “high-risk prisoners,” could not be shifted from Berhampore jail to Kolkata due to the absence of police escort.
Thursday’s development has once again brought the issue of coordination between state police and central agencies into focus.