The National Investigation Agency (NIA) team investigating the recent violence in Beldanga, Murshidabad district, West Bengal, could not bring 36 accused to court due to a lack of police escort. This marks the second instance where the NIA has faced difficulties in presenting the accused before the court. The Murshidabad district police’s failure to provide sufficient security escorts was cited as the reason for the delay.
On a previous occasion, on February 5, the NIA also struggled to produce the accused in court, attributing the issue to inadequate security escorts from the state police. The Murshidabad District Police reportedly did not comply with the NIA’s requisition due to the engagement of police personnel in overseeing the higher secondary examinations conducted by the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education.
Following a directive from the Calcutta High Court, the NIA took over the investigation into the Beldanga violence. The unrest was sparked by false news of a migrant worker’s murder in Jharkhand, originating from Murshidabad. However, investigations revealed that the news was untrue, with Jharkhand Police confirming the migrant worker’s death as suicide based on the post-mortem report.
Despite the West Bengal government’s challenge to the Calcutta High Court’s decision, the Supreme Court dismissed the plea on February 11. The Supreme Court instructed the NIA to submit a status report to the Calcutta High Court, indicating whether a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) was established based on the gathered evidence.
