No faith in state govt’: BJP MP as NIA to probe Ram Navami violence in Bengal
Ruling on a petition filed by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, the high court ordered the state police to hand over the investigation to NIA.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Locket Chatterjee, who was allegedly stopped from attending a procession in West Bengal earlier this month, expressed her happiness over the Calcutta high court's directive to National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe the Ram Navami violence that occurred in Howrah district in March, saying that she doesn't have “faith” in Mamata Banerjee-led government as no actions have been taken despite attacks on “Hindu processions”.
“There are stone pelting and attacks on Hindu processions. There is no investigation in all these cases. We have no faith in the Bengal administration. We wanted an NIA investigation and are happy that the case has been handed over to the NIA”, Chatterjee was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
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Ruling on a petition filed by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, the high court ordered the state police to hand over the investigation to NIA. The court also ordered police to transfer all records and CCTV footage to the central government within two weeks so the federal investigation agency could take over the probe.
Several vehicles were set on fire, stones thrown and shops ransacked as clashes between two groups broke out in Howrah’s Shibpur during Ram Navami celebrations last month. Many, including police personnel, were also injured in the violence.
Earlier this month, the Calcutta high court said reports filed by state police suggest that the Ram Navami clashes were pre-planned, adding that a central agency might be better suited to probe the events that had ratcheted up communal tensions and stoked a political row in the eastern state.
Both the Trinamool Congress and the BJP have accused each other of stoking violence in the state. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that the saffron party wants a probe by the NIA to avoid being investigated in the state to “escape action”. Meanwhile, BJP accused Banerjee of playing “appeasement politics”.