CBI to start process of filing FIRs soon

A five-judge HC bench had ruled that the CBI would probe ‘serious’ cases such as murder, unnatural death and rape.

New Delhi: The CBI wants to file FIRs soon after the formation of the special teams on the alleged post-poll violence. A meeting continued till Friday night with the director of the central intelligence agency and the Joint Director of the four special teams. Apparently, it has been decided that the CBI will start its work from next week.

According to intelligence sources, the team may go to Canning in South 24 Parganas, since most of the news of post-poll violence came from Canning. According to sources, the CBI will investigate in four district-wise zones. There will be one team each in charge of North Bengal, South Bengal, West Bengal and Kolkata. The teams will be led by a joint director. The CBI will file a separate FIR in case of alleged murder and unnatural death. No complaints will be tagged or covered. The CBI on Friday sought information from the state’s Director General of Police Birendra and Kolkata Police Commissioner Soumen Mitra about the allegations. The process of filing FIRs will start as soon as the documents of those cases are received.

On the other hand, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is not worried about the verdict of the Calcutta High Court on alleged post-poll violence. On Saturday, the party spokesperson clarified such a position of the ruling party of Bengal. A five-judge High Court bench on Thursday had ruled that the CBI would investigate “serious” cases such as murder, unnatural death and rape. A bench comprising policemen Soumen Mitra, Sumanbala Sahu and Ranbir Kumar has been formed to probe the “less important” cases. This seat will work under the supervision of a retired judge of the Supreme Court.

An editorial in the TMC mouthpiece published on Saturday clarified, ‘The Calcutta High Court has given a verdict in a case of post-election terrorism. Everyone already knows the verdict. The whole verdict will be examined and informed. The Trinamool Congress leadership will say in due course what to say. Everything will be done in the law. But we can say with confidence that the Trinamool Congress is not so concerned. “It says, ‘18 of the 21 deaths are of Trinamool activists, why should we worry? Let’s investigate.”

The role of the Election Commission during the polls has also been highlighted in this editorial column.

“If anything happens during the tenure of the Election Commission under the control of the officials of the police administration of their choice, why should the responsibility be shifted to the state government? The situation has calmed down since Mamata Banerjee was sworn in as Chief Minister,” the ruling party claimed. At the end of the editorial column, it was written, “The programmes of the Trinamool Congress and the state government will continue.”