Calcutta High Court orders NIA probe in another case

Kolkata (IANS) | The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday ordered a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the alleged murder of two former school students in Uttar Dinajpur district in September 2018. Justice Rajasekhar Mantha on September 20, 2018 ordered an inquiry into the murder of Tapas Barman and Rahesh Sarkar, former students of Dariwit High School in Uttar Dinajpur district, in the school premises.

While passing the order, Justice Mantha noted that there were complaints of use of bombs, explosives and firearms in the incidents.

He said that since the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the state police was not making sufficient progress in its investigation, the investigation was being handed over to the NIA.

It may be noted that in September 2018, a group of Dariwit High School students, their parents and alumni protested against the school authorities’ decision to appoint teachers for Urdu and Sanskrit subjects, ignoring teacher vacancies for subjects such as science and maths. started protesting.

Those opposed to the movement clashed with the protesters. Two former students of the school were killed in the firing that took place during this period.

Justice Mantha on Wednesday said that though the postmortem report shows that Sarkar and Barman were killed by bullets, CID officials are unable to identify the nature of firearms.

Justice Mantha also expressed displeasure over the role of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC), which was tasked with conducting a parallel probe in the case. He said that the conclusion of the Commission was based only on the inputs given by the District Magistrate and the District Superintendent of Police, which proved that the Commission remained inactive in the matter. He also directed the state government to give compensation to the next of kin of the deceased.

–IANS