The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is already conducting a probe in the March 21 carnage at the Bogtui village in West Bengal's Birbhum district in which nine persons were killed, will now also conduct a parallel investigation in the murder of Trinamool Congress leader Vadu Sheikh.
Sheikh was the first person to be killed in the village after which the massacre happened.
A division bench of the Calcutta High Court headed by Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava on Friday morning, ordered a parallel probe by CBI into Vadu Sheikh's murder along with the Bogtui massacre probe. The bench ordered that since the massacre and Vadu Sheikh's murder are inter-linked the CBI will conduct a parallel probe in both the cases.
Vadu Sheikh was the deputy chief of Boroshal village panchayat. It is perceived that infighting within the Trinamool Congress, the ruling party in West Bengal, was the main reason behind the Bogtui massacre, as the victim, Vadu Sheikh as well as the prime accused men behind the massacre like Palash Sheikh and Lalan Sheikh, were all close associates of Trinamool Congress. Palash Sheikh has been absconding since the massacre took place.
The killings took place on March 21 in Bogtui village, where nine persons including the Vadu Sheikh died.
Initially, a special investigation team of the state police started probing the carnage. However, on March 26, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI probe in Bogtui. Referring to an allegation relating to an attempt to wipe out the evidence, the said division bench said that the special investigation team of the state police had made no progress in the probe. The CBI then took over the investigation.
Meanwhile, a writ petition was filed in the Calcutta High Court appealing that Cthe BI undertake a parallel probe in the murder of Vadu Sheikh since both the matters were interlinked. The court sought the opinion of the central probe agency whose officers too expressed willingness to take up the parallel probe. Finally, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court cleared the path for the CBI to conduct the said parallel probe.
The CBI sleuths, on Friday morning, brought to Kolkata on transit remand the four persons who were arrested in connection with the Bogtui massacre from Mumbai on Thursday afternoon. The four arrested persons included Bappa Sheikh and Sabu Sheikh, both of whom were named in the FIR filed by the agency sleuths to begin the probe. Both of them were close associates of one of the prime accused, Lalan Sheikh.