Birbhum Massacre: 10 people burnt alive after murder of panchayat leader in West Bengal

[Cover Drive Six]

Bengal: 10 burnt alive by mob after murder of panchayat leader in Birbhum; 11 arrested

Kolkata: At least eight people were burnt alive after a mob set their houses on fire in West Bengal's Birbhum district on Monday. An investigation has been initiated by police into the matter.
According to fire department officials, the incident took place after the alleged killing of a Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader who served as the panchayat leader in Birbhum.
An irate mob barged into the Bogtui village situated on the outskirts of the Rampurhat town and set 10 to 12 houses on fire late last night.
This morning, 7 bodies were recovered from one house. Initially, 10 deaths were reported but the numbers were not correct, a total of 8 people have died. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted, said Manoj Malviya, West Bengal DGP.

The body of Bhadu Sheikh, the TMC panchayat deputy chief of Barshal village, was found in the area on Monday, police said. Further investigation is underway in the matter.
Talking about the incident, West Bengal DGP Manoj Malviya said, "An hour after the news of the murder of TMC leader Bahadur Sheikh last night, 7-8 nearby houses were set on fire. 11 people arrested in this regard. The concerned SDPO and Rampurhat Incharge have been removed from their post."

"This morning, 7 bodies were recovered from one house. Initially, 10 deaths were reported but the numbers were not correct, a total of 8 people have died. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted," he added.
While the incident was alleged to be the fallout of rivalry between two factions of the ruling party, TMC General Secretary Kunal Ghosh tweeted saying that the incident has nothing to do with politics.
“Deaths of the locals in fire incident is sad. But this incident has no political connection. This is a local village dispute. The panchayat deputy chief who was murdered was a well-known person and his death has angered the villagers, leading to the violent protest. The fire incident took place at night but cops and fire brigade took immediate action," Kunal Ghosh said in a tweet in Bengali.
A Birbhum district police officer said Bhadu Sheikh’s brother, Babar Sheikh, was shot dead a year ago in the same village.

https://www.timesnownews.com/india/bengal-10-burnt-alive-by-mob-after-murder-of-panchayat-leader-in-birbhum-article-90370492

 

[Cover Drive Six]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">They were alive just 24 hours ago. Children, their mothers, aunts, sisters. Locked up and burnt while they were alive and begging to be spared. 12 killed to avenge the death of TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh.<br>A regular day in Mamata’s Bengal. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BirbhumMassacre?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BirbhumMassacre</a><br>[Warning: Disturbing video] <a href="https://t.co/Lb3zIg8xGC">pic.twitter.com/Lb3zIg8xGC</a></p>— Abhijit Majumder (@abhijitmajumder) <a href="https://twitter.com/abhijitmajumder/status/1506318298702819329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 22, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Cover Drive Six]

Shame on democracy and shame on humanity.
Surprisingly no one talking about this incident.
2 children among 10 charred to death,this is scary.

 

[Cover Drive Six]

Lawlessness at its peak. But no Liberals will ask a question to Mamta Banerjee
The Videos/pictures are so horrifying that they can’t be posted.

Om Shanti.

 

[Cover Drive Six]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The government is ours, we are concerned about people in our state. We would never want anyone to suffer. The Birbhum, Rampurhat incident is unfortunate. I have immediately dismissed the OC, SDPO. I will go to Rampurhat tomorrow: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Birbhum incident <a href="https://t.co/xZuwsMLAW8">pic.twitter.com/xZuwsMLAW8</a></p>— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1506542759989383174?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[cricketjoshila]

Lawlessness at its peak. But no Liberals will ask a question to Mamta Banerjee
The Videos/pictures are so horrifying that they can’t be posted.

Om Shanti.

Why do you think these fake liberals are losing space quickly in India.

 

[Cover Drive Six]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">West Bengal Congress chief and MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury writes to President Ram Nath Kovind, requesting him to invoke Article 355 of the Constitution "to ensure that the Government of West Bengal is carried on in accordance with the provision of the Constitution." <a href="https://t.co/EfDWLVsRnt">pic.twitter.com/EfDWLVsRnt</a></p>— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1506639971104718856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Cover Drive Six]

Why do you think these fake liberals are losing space quickly in India.

Seriously something wrong with our society.
Our media focussed Hijab issue like an intentional war but no one is talking about the incident where Ten people Roasted Toasted alive...Horrifying disturbing inhuman act.

No journalist or celebrity is interested to talk on this becoz it's not BJP ruled state.

 

[Jadz]

Lawlessness at its peak. But no Liberals will ask a question to Mamta Banerjee
The Videos/pictures are so horrifying that they can’t be posted.

Om Shanti.

A really horrific crime - hope the perpetrators are brought to book and receive the harshest punishment available under Indian federal law.

When you refer to Liberals who are you referring to? Members of the Congress Party? I ask this because here in the UK 'liberals' would denote members of the Labour Party and the Liberal Democratic Party - in the US the equivalent would be the Democratic Party. However, what I have observed, though of course this is a matter of personal opinion, is that so-called 'liberals' are right of centre and sometimes even further to the right bordering on right-wing. Their rhetoric appear at odds with their policies which are, in reality, no different to 'conservatives' or those who would be categorized as 'right-wing.'

India, like the US, UK, Hungary, Brazil and so on, has shifted to the right of both politics and religion - which means their societies are deeply divided along political, cultural and religious lines.

To return to the subject - these acts of extreme violence seem uncommon in India and the sub-Continent, though it would seem they do occur most often in rural, isolated areas.

 

[Champ_Pal]

Bengal under Momta Didi is shining bright like a beacon in the darkness.

 

[DRsohail]

Oh , tragic.

 

[Pakpak]

What happened

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Sounds eerily similar to the Gujarat massacres in 2001 under Modi. Except in this case the perpetrators should expect to face the full face of India's judicial fury.

 

[RajBan]

Sounds eerily similar to the Gujarat massacres in 2001 under Modi. Except in this case the perpetrators should expect to face the full face of India's judicial fury.

Both the factions belong to the same political party. Gujarat was a seperate incident altogether.

 

[LongtimeLurk3r]

Both the factions belong to the same political party. Gujarat was a seperate incident altogether.

He is right though. This is very similar to the burning of the Godhra train. Mode of killing was the same. Hopefully the similarities end there and does not escalate. The perpetrators should be hanged. They don't deserve to be incarcerated.

 

[Romali_rotti]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">They were alive just 24 hours ago. Children, their mothers, aunts, sisters. Locked up and burnt while they were alive and begging to be spared. 12 killed to avenge the death of TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh.<br>A regular day in Mamata’s Bengal. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BirbhumMassacre?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BirbhumMassacre</a><br>[Warning: Disturbing video] <a href="https://t.co/Lb3zIg8xGC">pic.twitter.com/Lb3zIg8xGC</a></p>— Abhijit Majumder (@abhijitmajumder) <a href="https://twitter.com/abhijitmajumder/status/1506318298702819329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 22, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Oh my goodness.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

As much as I would love to argue with BJP fans, I gotta agree with them here.

The liberals (politicians) do get exposed here.

Let's see how many tweet or make statements about this.

But don't conflate political **** with regular folks who are sickened by this brutality.

This is nothing new. The violence before Panchayat election a few years back was brutal.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"Eight people died in Rampurhat town of West Bengal’s Birbhum district on Tuesday after their houses were set on fire following the alleged murder of a panchayat leader of the ruling Trinamool Congress."<br>The political violence in WB is very disturbing <a href="https://t.co/LQcXc0488Z">https://t.co/LQcXc0488Z</a></p>— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) <a href="https://twitter.com/pbhushan1/status/1506518508665933830?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/sto...sident-rule-in-west-bengal-1928739-2022-03-23

Breakdown of constitutional machinery: Congress demands President's Rule in Bengal


https://www.indiatoday.in/india/sto...on-tmc-mamata-banerjee-bjp-1928576-2022-03-23

There is some hope for our nation after all.

----------------------

Something must be done about this Bengal violence.

 

[Rajdeep]

Need president rule in Bengal. Indira Gandhi invoked article 356 during her tenure in Kerala and put president rule in place...so why cant BJP? Though I am against dethroning a democratically elected chief minister but bengal is a boiling pot. The sad part is that even the common people have accepted that these violence is normal.

BJP just wins in 4 states...not a shred of violence. AAP won in Punjab...nothing there either. 26 BJP workers killed last year after Bengal elections and others who didn't vote for Mamta were paraded kneeling down. Women of BJP workers were raped. And this is an Indian state we are talking about...not Afghanistan.

So president rule is required there ASAP but I suppose Modi govt is too weak to enforce it.

One thing good has happen in all these is libbus likes NDTV who were all stooping down for her and projecting her as next PM after bengal wins last year...that aspiration is now broken into pieces. If she cant manage bengal...no Indian would want her as PM of the country.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Need president rule in Bengal. Indira Gandhi invoked article 356 during her tenure in Kerala and put president rule in place...so why cant BJP? Though I am against dethroning a democratically elected chief minister but bengal is a boiling pot. The sad part is that even the common people have accepted that these violence is normal.

BJP just wins in 4 states...not a shred of violence. AAP won in Punjab...nothing there either. 26 BJP workers killed last year after Bengal elections and others who didn't vote for Mamta were paraded kneeling down. Women of BJP workers were raped. And this is an Indian state we are talking about...not Afghanistan.

So president rule is required there ASAP but I suppose Modi govt is too weak to enforce it.

One thing good has happen in all these is libbus likes NDTV who were all stooping down for her and projecting her as next PM after bengal wins last year...that aspiration is now broken into pieces. If she cant manage bengal...no Indian would want her as PM of the country.

Even congress is asking for article 355, if not 356.

 

[Romali_rotti]

So president rule is required there ASAP but I suppose Modi govt is too weak to enforce it.

.

He is the PM and not an avg citizen, he is not allowed to act on emotions. Only way I see a potential presidential rule being enforced in Bengal would be, after BJP secures the 2024 federal election, till then he will not risk it..

 

[Romali_rotti]

Bengal is starting to turn into a major issue, Mamta needs to be taken out, she is killing Bengal by allowing hordes of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh for her votes. If this is not taken care of, we will see Bengal as the next Kashmir, then followed by our pseudo secular state Kerala.

 

[Rajdeep]

Even congress is asking for article 355, if not 356.

Sorry yes 355 and right on Congress's part to ask for it. Central govt should just show some spine and set a precedent.

 

[Rajdeep]

He is the PM and not an avg citizen, he is not allowed to act on emotions. Only way I see a potential presidential rule being enforced in Bengal would be, after BJP secures the 2024 federal election, till then he will not risk it..

Its not an one off incident in Bengal though. These violence's are going on for long time and has only amplified under TMC rule. So I dont see the need for BJP to wait till 2024 which they will win anyway. If president rule being applied now, many people can at least vote their without fearing their lives

 

[Ahmad-GERMANFC]

He is right though. This is very similar to the burning of the Godhra train. Mode of killing was the same. Hopefully the similarities end there and does not escalate. The perpetrators should be hanged. They don't deserve to be incarcerated.

What are chances of a full scale riot and genocide like gujrat??. Too bad no Bjp government there otherwise may have happened

 

[LongtimeLurk3r]

What are chances of a full scale riot and genocide like gujrat??. Too bad no Bjp government there otherwise may have happened

Political and non-political killings have become routine in Bengal now, unfortunately. Hopefully, we never see genocide in India again.

 

[Rajdeep]

What are chances of a full scale riot and genocide like gujrat??. Too bad no Bjp government there otherwise may have happened

The people (Women/Child) who got burned alive were all muslims though from Mamta's party herself. Gujarat was a communal violence but its different.

Point is Mamta's own party workers are not safe then imagine the treatment people get who dont vote for her. She is a proper lady hitler.

 

[MenInG]

The Central Bureau of Investigation has been told to take over the case of eight people burnt alive in West Bengal's Birbhum. The Calcutta High Court transferred the case to the CBI after denying a request by the Mamata Banerjee government to not hand over the investigation to the central agency.

Eight people - all women and children - were beaten and burnt alive by a mob on Tuesday.

Ms Banerjee has said the suspects would be hunted down if they did not surrender. Battling a furious political backlash over the savage killings and accused by the opposition BJP of condoning political violence, the Chief Minister also alleged that "something big" was behind the incident.

The Chief Minister has indicated she is wary of her rivals politicising the incident. Ms Banerjee and the BJP-led centre has long been fighting on several fronts and the latest incident may just open up another front.

Six women and two children were locked in their homes and burnt alive by a mob on Tuesday at village Bogtui near Rampurhat town, in what was believed to be retaliation after a local Trinamool Congress leader, Bhadu Sheikh, was killed in a crude bomb attack. Charred bodies were found a day later, mostly belonging to one family.

NDTV

 

[Clueless]

Sounds eerily similar to the Gujarat massacres in 2001 under Modi. Except in this case the perpetrators should expect to face the full face of India's judicial fury.

Nice to see such deep insights from a foreigner sitting in even further foreign land!

 

[pillionrider]

Shame on democracy and shame on humanity.
Surprisingly no one talking about this incident.
2 children among 10 charred to death,this is scary.

The people with the loudspeakers in India today are the Godi media and bhakts. Both groups were excited initially and prominently featured the name of the dead politician, a Muslim. The prospect of the worst kind of killing of a family was a salivating prospect for this numb lot if the family turned out to be Hindus. You can see it influenced the Captain of the Brit-Pakistani community here into believing the same

Sounds eerily similar to the Gujarat massacres in 2001 under Modi. Except in this case the perpetrators should expect to face the full face of India's judicial fury.

Once people realized the victims were also Muslims, the fizz went out and the focus turned to lawlessness in Bengal. That's all there is to it.

Deaths and crimes are only worth for point-scoring and this applies to both political sides. But no one plays that game as cheaply as the Modi-led BJP.

 

[Cover Drive Six]

The people with the loudspeakers in India today are the Godi media and bhakts. Both groups were excited initially and prominently featured the name of the dead politician, a Muslim. The prospect of the worst kind of killing of a family was a salivating prospect for this numb lot if the family turned out to be Hindus. You can see it influenced the Captain of the Brit-Pakistani community here into believing the same



Once people realized the victims were also Muslims, the fizz went out and the focus turned to lawlessness in Bengal. That's all there is to it.

Deaths and crimes are only worth for point-scoring and this applies to both political sides. But no one plays that game as cheaply as the Modi-led BJP.

May be later you realized that the victims were Muslims.
But most of the people know that was issue between two Minority groups. That's why earlier I have pointed out that people who gave the preference to Hijab were not even talking about this incident.

 

[MenInG]

The Central Bureau of Investigation has named 21 people as accused in the Birbhum massacre, in which eight people were beaten and burnt alive earlier this week, triggering political furore. The list of accused is the same as that of the state police, sources said. The agency, however, has questioned the ruling Trinamool Congress's block president Anarul Hossain, who, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had promised, will be arrested.

Around 20 people have been arrested after six women and two children -- mostly of members of a single family -- were locked in their homes and burnt alive by a mob at the Bogtui village near Birbhum's Rampurhat town earlier this week.

The attack was allegedly retaliation to the murder of a local Trinamool Congress leader, Bhadu Sheikh, who died in a bomb attack.

Mamata Banerjee, during her visit to Bogtui, had promised that Anarul Hossain will be arrested for not informing the police and helping them in preventing the crime. Speaking to reporters while being taken away for questioning by the CBI, Anarul Hossain said, "It is a conspiracy by my opponents."

The CBI team has set up a temporary camp at a government guest house in Rampurhat. Led by senior officer Akhilesh Singh, the team has now split up and started work by visiting the home of Sona Sheikh, whose house was set ablaze. Most of the bodies were recovered from this home in Bogtui village, including that of the newly married couple, Lily Khatun and her husband.

Comments
The CBI has to file a status report on its investigation by April 7 in the Calcutta High Court, which ordered a probe by the Central agency on Friday. The court -- which took up the case suo motu -- had denied the Mamata Banerjee government's request not to hand over the investigation to the CBI.

Battling a furious political backlash over the killings, the Chief Minister had alleged that "something big" was behind the incident.

"I never believed something so barbaric can happen in modern Bengal. Mothers and children were killed. Your family members died but it is my heart that was crushed," Mamata Banerjee said, surrounded by the family members and relatives of those killed, besides villagers. Alleging a bigger conspiracy, she called for "stringent action" and said the police would investigate all angles.

At least 20 people have been arrested by the local police in connection with the incident. Two officers of the local police have been removed on grounds of negligence.

Alleging that the Trinamool Congress's local leaders were involved in the murders, the state's opposition BJP had demanded a central investigation. The party also called for President's Rule in the state.

NDTV

 

[ex-q-zit]

Bengal Violence Accused Dies By Suicide In CBI Custody

One of the main accused in Bogtui village of Bengal's Birbhum district, in which 10 people were killed, died by suicide in CBI custody today. Sheikh was arrested from a hideout in Jharkhand's Pakur, eight months after the massacre in which women and children were burnt alive.

Lalon Sheikh's body will now be taken for a post-mortem to Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital. Senior police officers from the district reached the CBI office after the incident.

Sources told NDTV that the CBI has informed the local police that he has died by suicide while in their custody. After his arrest, Lalon Sheikh was kept in the temporary camp set up by the CBI after the probe was handed over to the agency by the Calcutta High Court.

The CBI is probing the case on the orders of the Calcutta High Court. The probe agency arrested Sheikh this month, more than eight months after the incident. He was arrested after months of surveillance set up to catch him, as he had evaded the police since the incident.

Lalon Sheikh is one of the prime accused in the March 21 Bogtui violence. He was arrested by CBI on December 4. Sheikh is believed to have led a crowd that set homes on fire in Bogtui leading to the death of ten people, mostly women and children.

Lalon Sheikh was produced before a Rampurhat court on Sunday and sent to six days CBI custody.

Ten persons were killed in the Birbhum violence after several houses were set on fire after the murder of the deputy chief of a gram panchayat and Trinamool's Bhadu Sheikh. The CBI has been investigating the Bogtui murders case and the murder of Bhadu Sheikh as well.

The agency has filed a 1192-page charge sheet based on eyewitness accounts, security camera footage and statements by two of the three women who died of burn injuries at Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital. An eight-year-old girl was among those that died in the incident. The CBI charge sheet says Bhadu Sheikh's murder, whose killing sparked off the violence, was the fallout of rivalry between him and his associates over dubious land deals, illegal businesses and a share of extortion money.

NDTV

 

[ex-q-zit]

Bengal Violence Accused's Family Protest Outside CBI Office With His Body

Demanding action against the CBI over the custodial death of Lalan Sheikh, one of the main accused in the Rampurhat massacre, his family demonstrated outside the agency's office in West Bengal's Birbhum district with the body on Wednesday.

Sheikh was found hanging in the washroom of the CBI camp office in Rampurhat on Monday.

As police handed Sheikh's body to his family after the post-mortem at the Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital, they took it to the CBI office and started a demonstration.

They also got into a scuffle with security personnel guarding the office.

"CBI officers are responsible for Lalan's death. We want them to be punished. They must be arrested immediately or else we will not conduct the last rites of my husband," said Sheikh's wife Reshma Bibi.

"Why was I not allowed to see my husband after his death? There must be something mysterious," she claimed.

A senior police officer said they were talking to the family so that the last rites can be performed.

CBI claimed that Sheikh, one of the main accused in the killing of 10 people, died by suicide.

At least 10 people were killed as their houses in the Bogtui village in Rampurhat were allegedly firebombed in the dead of the night on March 21 after the murder of local TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh.

Meanwhile, the state CID took over the investigation into the custodial death and sought the post-mortem report from the district police, a senior officer said.

NDTV

 

[ex-q-zit]

Bengal Violence Accused's Wife Accuses CBI Of Theft Days After His Death

The widow of Lalon Sheikh, the main accused in Bogtui massacre who died in CBI custody, has lodged a police complaint alleging theft by the central probe body, an official of the investigating agency said on Monday.

In her complaint filed at Rampurhat police station in Birbhum district on Sunday, Reshma Bibi alleged that "valuable articles" were missing from their residence after CBI sleuths visited it with Sheikh, the police said.

The residence was sealed thereafter, the police said.

"Reshma Bibi is accusing the CBI as the house was locked by CBI and the articles went missing after it," an official of the state CID, which is investigating Sheikh's death, said.

This is her second police complaint in a week. In her first complaint on December 13 Reshma Bibi had alleged that CBI officers during their visit to Bogtui village in the course of the High Court-ordered investigation had threatened to kill her husband.

She had blamed the central probe agency for his death.

When contacted a CBI senior officer rubbished the allegations and said that it has a detailed list of what was inside the house when it was sealed by it.

"The allegations made by Reshma Bibi are baseless. We have a list of the materials inside Sheikh's house, which we had sealed last week. We will show it to the police in case it is needed," he told PTI.

Sheikh was found dead inside the washroom of the temporary office of CBI at Rampurhat on December 12. The CID acting on the first FIR lodged by Reshma Bibi, has sought from CBI a detailed report on Sheikh's custodial death, the CID official said.

"We have sought a report from the CBI about Sheikh's death in its custody. We have also sought the video footage from it," he said.

The CID has asked CBI to provide details on the number of officers and sequence of events on the day when Sheikh was found hanging inside in CBI's temporary office.

It visited the guest house twice and collected evidence from it. The officer said that CID will be tallying the CBI report with its findings.

CBI sleuths spoke to Sheikh's wife, daughter and others who were present at his Bogtui residence when they had taken him there on December 12 afternoon, hours before his body was found inside the washroom.

The central probe agency has emptied the guest house at Rampurhat and shifted all its officers following a demonstration by Sheikh's family members and other villagers of Bogtui who demanded the arrest of the investigators of the central agency.

In the massacre, which took place after the murder of Trinamool Congress leader Bhadu Sheikh on March 21 this year, 10 people had died of burn injuries.

Sheikh was seen in a CCTV footage throwing bombs aiming at residences in Bogtui on March 21 night after the murder of TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh, CBI had claimed.

The central probe agency complying to a Calcutta High Court order had registered a case on March 25 against 22 accused and arrested over 15 people for their alleged involvement in the massacre.

NDTV