Murshidabad violence: Arrests in father-son killing challenge ‘outsider’ theory

Kolkata: The West Bengal government’s initial “outsider” theory behind the communal violence in the minority-dominated Murshidabad district has been nullified to a great extent by the identities of the four arrested individuals in connection with the killing of a man and his son April 12.

It has been revealed that all four arrested individuals were not only residents of Murshidabad district but also used to frequent the village where the slain father and son, Hargobindo Das and Chandan Das, lived.

At the same time, the villagers have also confirmed that three of the four arrested were residents of villages adjacent to the village of the slain father and son.

The state police first arrested two cousins in this connection, namely Kalu Nadab and Dildar Nadab, both residents of a village adjacent to the one where the Das duo used to reside. Villages have confirmed to the investigating officials that both these accused cousins used to frequent the resident village of the Das family to meet their acquaintances there.

While Kalu Nadab was arrested from Murarai in Birbhum district, Dildar Nadab was nabbed from Suti in Murshidabad district.

Thereafter, last week, the cops arrested a local electrician, Inzamam Haque, in this connection. Like the two arrested cousins, Haque also used to frequent the village of the Das family for domestic electrical repair work.

Similarly, the last arrest made in his connection on late Saturday night, Ziaul Haque, has also been identified by the villagers as frequently visiting the area. Ziaul Haque alias Chacha was arrested late Saturday night at Chopra in North Dinajpur district in West Bengal.

The villagers in the troubled pockets had been arguing since the beginning about how the flash mob attacks took place at different villages earlier this month. It was evident that the attackers were guided by some who were natives of the same villages or were well aware of the geography of the locations because of the frequent visits.

In fact, Calcutta High Court’s special division bench of Justice Soumen Sen, which ordered Central Armed Police Forces deployment in the troubled pockets of Murshidabad April 12, also observed that the measures taken by the West Bengal government to control communal unrest were not adequate.

“Although we have noted the stand of the state that the government was making an endeavour to ensure co-existence of different communities in peace and harmony, the measures so far taken do not appear to be adequate,” read the copy of the order

The division bench also observed that had the CAPF deployment been earlier, the situation would not have been so “grave” and “volatile”.

IANS

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