At least 23 people have been arrested in connection with the violence in West Bengal’s Birbhum district that left nine people dead, police said. A panchayat leader of the ruling Trinamool Congress was among those killed in clashes between rival parties on Monday night.
Eight persons died after their houses were set on fire following the murder of an official by a suicide bomber.
Police lodged two separate cases for the deaths, while the state government formed a special investigation team (SIT) to look into the matter.
The murder of a prominent Muslim cleric in Kolkata (West Bengal) may have been due to “personal enmity between two groups that might have led to the murder of Bhadu Sheikh. No political rivalry was involved in this”, police say.
State minister Firhad hakim reached the village on Tuesday with a team of three TMC MLA to assess the situation. Meanwhile, a team of BJP legislators left for Birbhum from Kolkata on Wednesday morning. CPI(M) too is sending a team to Bogtui village.
Another team, including four MPs, is expected to arrive in Kolkata today. The governor of West Bengal said he was “pained and disturbed” by what he called “human rights in decimation and law and order (has) capsized”.
