The five-member fact-finding committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) submitted its report to party president JP Nadda today. The BJP chief had formed a five-member fact-finding committee in wake of Birbhum violence, in which eight people were charred to death.

The fact-finding team had West Bengal state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, Rajya Sabha MP and former Uttar Pradesh DGP Brajlal, Lok Sabha MP and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Satya Pal Singh, Rajya Sabha MP and former IPS KC Ramamurty and BJP spokesperson and former IPS Bharati Ghosh as its members.

“The fact-finding committee went to the village in Birbhum where the incident took place. We had to face problems to reach the village due to the ruling Trinamul Congress (TMC). The committee had four former IPS officers and they made a comprehensive report. We handed over the report to party president JP Nadda today. We will also hand over a copy of this confidential report to Union home Minister Amit Shah,” Sukanta Majumdar told the media.

Violence erupted in the Birbhum district of West Bengal after the local leader was murdered in a bomb attack. In an alleged revenge violence that followed, villagers were locked in their houses and burnt alive. The violence shook the country and the High Court took a suo moto cognizance of the incident and asked the state government to install CCTV cameras for round-the-clock surveillance.

Few days later, Mamata Banerjee visited the site of the incident and reiterated that the culprits would be nabbed and no one responsible would be spared. Around 15 policemen were sent on leave and 20 people, including the prime suspect, were arrested in swift action. There was a heated exchange of words in and out of the Vidhan Sabha between the TMC and the BJP leaders.

The local BJP leaders demanded the chief minister’s resignation, In retaliation, a TMC delegation met the home minister Amit Shah and demanded the removal of the West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar resignation saying that he had acted in a partisan manner and that he interferes in the functioning of the democratically elected government. They also charged him for lowering the stature of his office as he used rough language which does not augur well for the federal democratic set-up of the country.

Now, The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over the case following the Calcutta High Court order. It has named 21 accused under Sections 147, 148, 149 and other Sections in FIR on suspected offence of armed rioting. On Friday, the Calcutta High Court had directed the SIT, formed by the West Bengal government, to hand over case papers and accused persons arrested by it to the CBI.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has also sought a detailed report from the West Bengal government over the arson incident. The move came after a nine-member delegation of BJP MPs from West Bengal met Union home Minister Amit Shah and sought his intervention and action against the perpetrators involved in the crime.