The Calcutta High Court Tuesday sought the West Bengal government's stand on a petition seeking a CBI probe into a triple murder in which a Trinamool Congress lawmaker is allegedly involved even as the CPI-M hit out at the Mamata Banerjee regime for patronising criminals.
The plea was filed by the victims' family before the court of Justice Dipankar Dutta, seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the 2010 killings of three brothers in Labhpur of Birbhum district.
While Labhpur legislator Manirul Islam was named in the first information report (FIR) filed after the killings, his name was subsequently dropped from the charge sheet submitted four years later.
Police dropped Islam's name on the plea that it didn't come up in the recorded statement of the victims' family members to the magistrate under Section 164 Criminal Procedure Code.
The family in the petition now has claimed that it was under duress to not name Islam in the statement.
Islam in July 2013 publicly admitted to committing the murders.
"I have crushed three people to death with my feet," Islam boasted in his address at a party rally that was video-graphed and widely broadcast and reported upon.
"Justice Dutta Monday watched the video in detail, and today (Tuesday) we submitted a transcript of Islam's speech in the video. The court has directed the state government to state its stand about the petition in an affidavit by Aug 1," said Subrata Mukherjee, counsel for the petitioner.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) hit out at Banerjee, saying as long as she was the chief minister, people accused of crime in her Trinamool will remain untouched.
Referring to Banerjee and some top officials Thursday last sharing the dais with Islam at a government programme in Birbhum's Bolpur, Leader of Opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra accused the chief minister of patronising criminals.
"By sharing the dais with people responsible for such heinous murders, she is giving a message loud and clear- so long as she is the chief minister, these elements will remain untouched," said Mishra after visiting Labhpur to meet the family of the three brothers.
Besides Islam, Trinamool Birbhum president Anubrata Mandal, also an accused in another murder case, was present at the stage where a host of government officials including Chief Secretary Sanjay Mitra, Home Secretary Basudeb Banerjee and Director General of Police G.M.P. Reddy were in attendance.
Mishra assured all help to the family.
"Still to come to terms with the horrific murders, the family is being continuously threatened and intimidated. The children have skipped school out of fear while the elders have to roam around for a livelihood.
"We have assured all help to ensure the family's fight for a CBI probe is fruitful," he added.
