Mamata Banerjee accuses BJP of trying to influence CBI probe

|HT|

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to influence the probe led by the CBI into the killings at Bogtui village in West Bengal's Birbhum district. "I still think there is a conspiracy behind the Rampurhat incident," said Banerjee. She, however, said handing over the probe to the central investigating agency was a "good decision," but warned that if it follows BJP's directions, “we are ready to protest”. TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh also reiterated the party's concerns of BJP influencing the probe by the central body. "We are okay with a fair, impartial and prompt CBI probe. However, in the last one-two days, there are indications that the BJP is trying to influence the central agency's investigation for its own political interest. We oppose any such move," Ghosh told reporters.

On March 22, eight people, including women and children, were charred to death when their huts were set ablaze. The incident is suspected to be the violent fallout of the murder of a ruling TMC panchayat official Bhadu Sheikh. The incident triggered a massive political row across the state. The state government had formed a special investigation team (SIT) formed to probe the matter. However, the Calcutta high court on Friday ordered the CBI to take over the case. Ghosh also said the party will "wait and watch" how the CBI probe progresses in the next few days before deciding its future response.

On Saturday, a 15-member CBI team, led by DIG Akhilesh Singh, visited the Bogtui village to probe the Birbhum violence. The team also included Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) experts from New Delhi.

Meanwhile, the police recovered crude bombs inside a plastic bag near a football ground in Sikandarpur village of Birbhum on Sunday. A bomb squad team of the CID was called to defuse them. It is yet to be ascertained whether the bombs had any link with the Bogtui village killings.

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