West Bengal CID on Friday took over the case of killing of four people in firing by the CISF during polling in Cooch Behar district on 10 April, a senior government official said. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has been constituted to conduct the probe in the incident which happened during the fourth phase of polling at Sitalkuchi.

Investigators will visit booth number 126/5 in Jorpatki in Sitalkuchi assembly constituency where CISF personnel had opened fire after they allegedly came under attack from a group of villagers. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also the TMC chief, had called the incident a “genocide”.

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Besides talking to witnesses and recording their statements, the SIT will algo go through video footage of the incident. A video clip has emerged on social media, the officer said, adding a forensic test will likely be conducted to establish its authenticity. The SIT will also talk to officers and personnel of the local police station who rushed to the scene soon after the incident.

Miss Banerjee had visited Sitalkuchi on Wednesday and met the families of the victims. HC seeks govt report by 5 May: A Division Bench presided over by Chief Justice, Calcutta High Court, TBN Radhakrishnan today directed the state government to submit a report over Sitalkuchi firing by 5 May.

Appearing before the HC through video conference, Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya, Fidaus Shamim and Uday Shankar Chattopadhyay submitted that the CISF personnel opened fire at innocent persons, killing them at Sikalkuchi Assembly constituency on 10 April. It was stated that the report submitted to the Election Commission by its observers cannot reveal the truth and it was urged that the court should appoint a committee headed by a former judge to investigate the incident.

Advocate general, Kisor Datta submitted that the state shall offer compensation to the families of the victims. The EC has no objection to the state government’s proposal of giving compensation to the victims’ families but it should be handed over only by the district magistrate, said Dipayan Choudhury, appearing for EC.