Five Netai massacre accused arrested from Hyderabad

The West Bengal CID arrested from Hyderabad five accused of the infamous Netai massacre case of 2011, in which CPI(M) activists allegedly fired upon innocent villagers killing nine persons, and produced them in a West Midnapore district court today.
The five accused, including the one from whose house bullets were allegedly fired, were given transit remand for a day by the West Midnapore CJM's court and would be produced before the Jhargram ACJM's court where the case is committed.
All the five would be handed over to the CBI, which is investigating the case, after production before the ACJM's court, the government counsel said after their production in the court.

A CID team, headed by its special superintendent Bharati Ghosh, arrested Dalim Pandey, Rathin Dandapat from whose house the firing allegedly took place, Joydeb Giri, Tapan De and Md Khaliluddin from a hideout in Hyderabad.
"They admitted that they were hiding in Nellore earlier and in some other places before taking refuge in the Andhra Pradesh capital," Ghosh said.
Ghosh said the CBI, which is investigating the case, had sought the state police's assistance on some occasions in connection with the case.

Ghosh was recently removed as SP of West Midnapore district on direction from Election Commission and was posted as special superintendent of CID.

Of the 20 accused in the case, 17 have so far been arrested while three are still absconding.
Nine villagers were killed in indiscriminate firing allegedly from a house owned by local CPI(M) leader Dandapat at Netai village in West Midnapore district on January 7, 2011.
The Calcutta High Court had ordered a CBI inquiry into the massacre in February, 2011 expressing dissatisfaction with a CID probe then.
The then Left Front government's appeal against the order was turned down by the Supreme Court.
CPI(M) politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee during whose reign the firing took place, had at a rally in Midnapore town on February four regretted the incident, saying "incidents like Netai are wrong. Our boys had done wrong at Netai.