KOLKATA: In a first,
Calcutta HC
established Wednesday a joint special investigation team (SIT) comprising both CBI and Bengal police to investigate the
attack
on ED officers in Sandeshkhali on Jan 5. “To unearth the truth and apprehend the miscreants responsible, a concerted effort is required from both central and state agencies,” HC said, while rejecting ED’s request for a
CBI probe
.
Sources said both ED and CBI are considering legal advice to challenge the order in a division bench.
HC-monitored SIT will be led jointly by a CBI SP and Islampore police superintendent Jaspreet Singh, with an equal number of CBI and state police officers in the team. SIT is required to submit its report on Feb 12. In his 9-page order, Justice Jay Sengupta said SIT would report directly to HC and not to “either the state or Centre”.
Trinamool Congress welcomed the order saying the attack on the ED team could have been pre-empted had the state been kept in the loop.
A mob of 200 people attacked three ED officers during a search at Trinamool strongman Sheikh Shahjahan’s house in Sandeshkhali of North 24 Parganas district as part of an investigation into an alleged Rs 550-crore ration scam. Trinamool welcomed HC’s decision for a joint SIT, stating that keeping the state in the loop could have pre-empted the attack.
Justice Sengupta expressed dissatisfaction with the ongoing police investigation, but emphasised the importance of collaboration between central and state agencies. While acknowledging CBI’s effectiveness in dealing with inter-state or inter-country measures, he stressed Bengal’s constitutional obligation to uphold the rule of law and prevent anarchy or mobocracy.
HC criticised both police and ED for their failure to arrest prime accused Shahjahan, who has been evading authorities since Jan 5. “It is indeed quite astounding, to say the least…,” the judge said. The court also questioned ED’s selective transfer request of some cases related to the Sandeshkhali probe to CBI.
HC also intervened in a case tied to the killing of three BJP workers on June 6, 2019, staying proceedings in a subordinate court where Shahjahan is among the accused. Justice Sengupta issued the stay until a single bench hears the pending litigation related to the Sandeshkhali attack, where Shahjahan is the prime accused.
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