CBI begins probing Bhadu Sheikh’s murder that had led to Birbhum massacre

A day after the Calcutta high court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the murder of TMC panchayat leader Bhadu Sheikh, sleuths of the central agency started their investigation and visited the spot on Saturday where Sheikh was killed.

The Calcutta high court on Friday ordered a CBI probe into the murder of Sheikh, following which violence broke out in West Bengal’s Birbhum district that killed nine people last month. The CBI is also probing the Birbhum massacre.

On Saturday, CBI sleuths went to the Rampurhat police station to take the case diary of Sheikh’s murder. Till date the case was being investigated by the state police.

The state police had arrested six people in connection with the murder case. The central agency has taken custody of five people for questioning. The CBI is likely to speak to Sheikh’s family members.

Police had earlier seized the footage of the close circuit television cameras installed at the murder spot. The CBI has taken custody of all the materials and documents, a senior police officer said.

The central agency arrested four people from Mumbai in connection with the Birbhum killings on Thursday. These were the first arrests made by the CBI since it took over the probe after a high court order on March 25. A court remanded them in CBI custody for a week on Friday.

In all 26 people have been arrested in connection with the Birbhum massacre including a TMC block leader Anaraul Hossain. He was arrested on the direct orders of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

On Thursday, the central agency submitted a preliminary report on their probe into the violence before the division bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj.