Violence erupts in Manipur’s Imphal West, Jiribam; indefinite curfew imposed
Violence erupts in Manipur's Imphal West, Jiribam; indefinite curfew imposed
The state government was directed to place the case diary and preliminary report of the incident of violence at Bagtui, Birbhum before the court by 2 pm tomorrow. This direction was given today by a division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj of Calcutta High Court while hearing Public Interest Litigations (PIL) seeking CBI investigation into the Bagtui incident after taking suo motu cognizance.
The names of the witnesses cannot be recorded, it was directed. Arrangements are to be made about ensuring security of witnesses/ villagers after consultation with the district judge of East Burdwan and director general of police and IG. The division bench gave the state the opportunity of investigating the Bagtui incident first, in which eight persons were burnt alive. The post-mortems conducted in this case were directed to be videographed.
The spot, where the incident occurred, was directed to be “wrapped up in CCTV cameras” which would do continuous recording, it was directed. The court directed Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Delhi to immediately collect samples from Bagtui and await the court’s further direction.
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Welcoming the court’s initiative of taking suo motu cognizance of the PILs, Advocate General, S N Mookherjee submitted that the state also wants the truth to come to light. A special Investigation Team was formed, which has started probing the matter, it was stated. It was submitted on behalf of the petitioner that CFSL should conduct the forensic investigation.
The state forensic team has reached the spot, the advocate general submitted. This is a very unfortunate and heartrending incident, the division bench had observed earlier. It had its impact on different sections of the society, which cannot be ignored, it was further observed.
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