West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee to visit Birbhum, vows strict action against those responsible for violence

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that she will be visiting the violence-hit Birbhum district soon where at least eight people, including two children, were charred to death and nearly a dozen houses were set ablaze on Tuesday in a suspected fallout of the murder of a ruling TMC panchayat official.

“Will be going to violence-hit Birbhum district on Thursday to take stock of the situation....have also postponed visit as other political parties huddling there,” Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The Chief Minister also promised to take strict action against those found guilty in the Birbhum violence. “Action will be taken against perpetrators of violence in Birbhum, irrespective of their political colours,” the Bengal CM said at a programme.

"The government is ours, we are concerned about people in our state. We would never want anyone to suffer. The Birbhum, Rampurhat incident is unfortunate. I have immediately dismissed the OC, SDPO. I will go to Rampurhat tomorrow,'' CM Mamata Banerjee said.

She added that such kinds of incidents have happened in Gujarat and Rajasthan too. "I am not justifying the incident in Rampurhat. We will take action in a fair manner, '' the West Bengal CM said.

"This is Bengal, not Uttar Pradesh. I had sent a delegation of TMC to Hathras but we were not allowed an entry. But we are not stopping anyone from coming here,'' the West Bengal CM said.

This is Bengal, not Uttar Pradesh. I had sent a delegation of TMC to Hathras but we were not allowed an entry. But we are not stopping anyone from coming here: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee pic.twitter.com/R9FW8Jox45 — ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2022

At least 20 people have been arrested so far in connection with the violence in West Bengal's Birbhum district, a senior police officer said on Wednesday. Eleven people were arrested the same day for their involvement in the incident. "With nine more arrests, the number of those who have been nabbed in the case rose to 20. We are grilling them to find out if there were more people involved in the incident. Some accused seem to have fled the village. We are trying to trace them," the officer said.

He also stated that forensic experts were examining the ravaged houses to get an idea about the "nature of the mishap". The West Bengal government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Additional Director General (CID) Gyanwant Singh, to probe the incident.

The Union Home Ministry has sought a detailed report on the incident from the state government. BJP National Vice President Dilip Ghosh on Wednesday termed the incident ''inhumane'' and said that his party BJP will take up the matter in the Lok Sabha.

Speaking to ANI, Dilip Ghosh said, "At least eight people, including children, were burnt alive in Birbhum district. This is an inhumane incident and such incidence do not happen in a decent society."

"We narrated this incident to Amit Shah and party president. The Union Home Ministry will take stock of the situation. We are also going to take up this issue in the Lok Sabha so that the people get to know about the incident", added the former Bengal BJP chief.

Meanwhile, the Calcutta High Court also took suo moto cognisance of the violence in West Bengal's Birbhum district that claimed eight lives. A bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj is slated to hear the matter after 2 pm on Wednesday.