Bogtui massacre case shifted from Birbhum to East Burdwan on HC order

The Bogtui massacre case has been shifted from Birbhum to East Burdwan district following an order passed today by the Calcutta High Court.

A single Bench of the high court, comprising Justice Ajay Kumar Mukherjee, accepted the plea of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking the transfer of the case from Birbhum to another district.

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On 21 March, 2022, Bhadu Sheikh, the then deputy pradhan of Bogtui Gram Panchayat, was killed after miscreants fired at him and hurled bombs from close range at Bogtui More. Later that night, his supporters allegedly set fire to the houses of his rivals after locking them from outside, resulting in the deaths of 10 villagers, who were charred to death.

The incident had rocked the state, prompting chief minister Mamata Banerjee to rush to Bogtui and meet the injured. She subsequently constituted a Special Task Force (STF) to investigate the incident.

Later, the Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI probe into both the murder of Bhadu Sheikh and the subsequent Bogtui massacre. With over 100 witnesses in the case, the CBI approached the high court seeking a transfer of the trial from the Rampurhat Sub-Divisional Court in Birbhum district, citing concerns that witnesses were being threatened.

Accepting the plea today, Justice Mukherjee directed that the case be shifted to East Burdwan district.

The District Judge of East Burdwan will now decide which court will hear the proceedings in this high-profile case.

One person has already died in CBI custody in connection with the case. The CBI has submitted a charge sheet against Anarul Hussain, the TMC president of Rampurhat Block I, and 23 others. According to the charge sheet, trapped villagers had desperately called Anarul Islam on the day of the incident, urging him to arrange fire brigade services immediately, but he allegedly did not respond.