A National Investigation Agency (NIA) court has refused bail for 52 individuals involved in the alleged besieging and harassment of officials conducting Special Intensive Revision (SIR) work in Mothabari, Malda district. The accused, including Mofakkerul Islam, have been remanded to judicial custody until May 13. The incident involved officials appointed by the Calcutta High Court to verify voter documents under the SIR process.
On April 3, a group reportedly confined seven officials inside the Kaliachak-II block office, leading to allegations of intimidation by those excluded from the pending voter list. The matter escalated to the Supreme Court’s attention, prompting the Election Commission to transfer the investigation to the NIA. Prior to this, Mofakkerul Islam was arrested by the West Bengal CID, with subsequent arrests made based on video evidence.
Despite delays in the NIA’s investigation due to alleged lack of cooperation from state police, the case was eventually transferred to the NIA after court intervention. Bail applications by the accused were rejected by the court, leading to their continued judicial custody. NIA counsel Shyamal Ghosh mentioned that judicial custody has been ordered in all 12 cases related to the Mothabari incident, with efforts ongoing to finalize the investigation promptly.
