NIA files chargesheet against 14 accused in West Bengal’s Mominpur communal violence

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a chargesheet against 14 accused in West Bengal’s Mominpur communal violence that occurred on October 9 last year, the agency said on Sunday.
The anti-terror agency filed the chargesheet in NIA special court, Calcutta which pertains to the clash between members of two communities who engaged in brick-batting, stone-pelting and hurled bombs at each other. The member of the two communities also deterred police personnel from discharging their official duties by physically assaulting them, damaging vehicles parked nearby and also attacked police personnel in the jurisdiction of Ekbalpore Police Station, Kolkata.
The case was initially registered on October 10 last year at Ekbalpur Police Station in, Kolkata, West Bengal and re-registered by the NIA on October 18 last year.
Those named in the chargesheet included Md Fakruddin Siddique, Md Salauddin Siddique, Md Sahabuddin Siddique, Md Idul Siddique, Md Ziauddin, Badrul Hossain, Ohab Hossain, Mustafa Hussain, Zakir Hossain, Gholam Md Izhar, Md Faiyaz, Sunny, Raju and Imamul Haque.
The accused persons were chargesheeted under sections 120B, 147, 149, 152, 332, 353 and 436 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 3 and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908.
Investigations revealed that the accused hatched a criminal conspiracy, gathered into an unlawful assembly with the intention to attack dwelling houses and shops of people of a particular community at Gali No. 8, Bhukailash Road, Kolkata by using crude bombs, petrol bombs, wooden sticks, brickbats and stones.
Further, the chargesheet mentions, the accused persons, as part of an unlawful mob, prevented the police force from entering Gali No. 8, Bhukailash Road to control the riots and even assaulted Police personnel of Kolkata Police.
The NIA filed the chargesheet three days after it carried out searches at 17 locations in Kolkata on January 4 in connection with the case and seized Rs 33.87 lakh in cash from the residence of three absconding accused.
The NIA sleuths conducted searches at these locations in Bhukailash Road in the Mominpur area of Kolkata.
During the searches, the NIA said a total amount of Rs 33,87,300 (Rs. 30,55,000 from the house of Md Salauddin Siddique, Rs 1,59,300 from the house of Zakir Hossain and Rs 1,73,000 from the house of Tipu; all three evading arrest), sharp-edged weapons and other incriminating items have been seized.
The NIA took over the case after the Counter Terrorism and Counter Radicalisation (CTCR) division of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) directed it to register an FIR and start a thorough probe considering the gravity of the case.
MHA’s order followed the direction of the Calcutta High Court in October while hearing a writ petition relating to the Ekbalpore-Mominpur communal violence.
The Court ordered the state police to formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising of experienced police officials to probe into the incident.
The petitioners had approached the Court alleging that the State Police administration remained silent spectators to the communal violence that erupted in the Ekbalpore-Mominpur area of Kolkata on the eve of Laxmi Puja.
Accordingly, the petitioners prayed for the deployment of the Central Para Military Forces for maintaining peace in the aftermath of the violence, and for the transfer of the investigation of the crimes to the NIA, alleging the inefficiency of the State Police to investigate the matter in a fair manner.