The National Investigation Agency (NIA) which has been handed over the responsibility to probe the Ram Navami violence in Howrah and Hooghly districts, has sought from the West Bengal police all the documents related to the case.
The NIA’s letter to the state police asked for copies of the FIRs that were lodged in this case. The letter was sent to the offices of the commissioners of Chandernagore Police Commiserate and Howrah City Police. A copy of it was also forwarded to the office of the additional director general in charge of CID of the state police, it is learnt from sources.
The details of the case were sought from the state more so because initially these violent incidents were being probed by the CID till the Calcutta High Court ordered a NIA probe into the matter.The handing over of the probe to the NIA was not lightly taken by the state government. TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh had said that in most cases which are left to Central investigation agencies, facts do not get to see the light of day. He alleged that Central probe agencies are mostly working at the behest of the BJP.
“With the NIA taking charge, one can be rest assured that the goons brought in by the BJP from Bihar to create violence will go scot-free. It is also noteworthy that NIA is never asked to probe cases in BJP-ruled states. Had Central agencies worked impartially then Suvendu Adhikari would have been arrested in the Narada case since he was named in the FIR,” Kunal had said.Sources in the state government claimed that the administration may approach the Supreme Court to challenge the decision of the Calcutta High Court.While passing the NIA probe order, the high court had observed that it is beyond the ability of the state police to find those who were responsible for the clashes, or the ones who instigated them, thus making a Central agency probe necessary.