The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has announced the arrest of four additional suspects in relation to incidents involving road blockades and the alleged unlawful confinement of judicial officers during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Mothabari, West Bengal. This brings the total number of arrests made by the NIA in these cases to 72 individuals.
The accused individuals have been charged under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, the National Highways Act of 1956, and the West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order (WBMPO) Act of 1972. The Supreme Court had previously instructed the NIA to swiftly conclude the investigation into the Mothabari case.
Chief Justice Surya Kant had set a two-month deadline for the investigation, leading to the NIA filing chargesheets in four cases on June 2 in a special NIA court in Kolkata. The arrests and chargesheets are linked to the violence that erupted on April 1 at the Mothabari Block Office during protests related to the electoral roll revision exercise.
A total of 12 cases have been registered in connection with the incidents, with chargesheets filed in four cases. The central investigating agency has named 31 individuals as accused in these four cases based on witness statements and digital evidence, including CCTV footage from locations where road blockades occurred and judicial officers were reportedly harassed.
