The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in a preliminary report on the Birbhum killings in West Bengal that the massacre was pre-planned and was a result of a ‘direct fallout’ of the murder of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Bhadu Sheikh, reported PTI on Friday, 8 April.
The central agency had submitted the 22-page investigative report on the incident to the Calcutta High Court on Thursday.
The report said,
"The brutal incident of burning and killings at Bogtui is the direct fallout of the killing of one Bhadu Shiekh at Bogtui More on the same day (21 March) at 8.30 pm."
'Planned and Organised' Violence: CBI
The preliminary report revealed that after the murder of Sheikh, his close associates and members of his group retaliated and formed “unlawful assembly” with the common intention of “burning the houses and killing the family members of the rival group in a very planned and organised manner."
The CBI also stated that seven people whose charred bodies were found at one of the burnt houses in Bogtui village, were “assaulted before being burnt alive."
As per the CBI report, the rivalry was "long standing" between two groups: One of Bhadu Sheikh and another of Palash Sheikh and Sona Sheikh.
Eight people were charred to death on 21 March, in retaliation to the murder of TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh. Four people from Mumbai have been arrested in connection with the violence so far.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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