West Bengal poll chaos: Villagers hold SIR officers ‘hostage’, EC asks NIA to probe case

The probe into judicial officers handling cases related to the Special Intensification Amendment (SIR) in Malda, West Bengal, was handed over to the Election Commission on Thursday National Bureau of Investigation (National Intelligence Service).An NIA team is expected to arrive in the polling state on Friday to start investigations, a spokesperson for the polling agency said.

“…In this regard, I am requested to request necessary inquiry/investigation into the matter and submit a preliminary investigation report directly to the tribunal as per the above instructions,” the EC told the NIA DG through a letter. The Supreme Court on Thursday criticized the West Bengal government for its “utter failure” to do nothing over the “pathetic” Galau incident and attack on seven judicial officials in Malda district during the electoral roll revision process.The court directed that the incident be investigated by the CBI or NIA and ordered deployment of central forces in the state.There has been a backlash over reports that police officers, including three women, were detained in Malda by a group of voters whose names had been removed from the electoral rolls.The court noted that it was the duty of the Mamata Banerjee-led state government to inform the Election Commission and seek deployment of central forces to ensure the safety of judicial officials. It also allows the Election Commission to ask the CBI or NIA to investigate the incident.The incident occurred during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral list. Seven judicial officials, including three women, were surrounded by protesters and held hostage for several hours.Officials said the protest started outside the Kalyachak Block 2 development office when a group of people demanded a meeting with officials. After they were denied entry, the crowd began demonstrating at around 4pm and later cordoned off the venue, with protests continuing late into the night.After the incident, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Accusing the BJP of trying to engineer the cancellation of West Bengal polls and imposing President’s rule in the state.Addressing a rally in Sagadighi, she also criticized the electoral commission for failing to maintain law and order.Polling for the 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with counting of votes taking place on May 4.In the eight-phase 2021 assembly elections, the Trinamool Congress party won 213 seats, defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party which secured 77 seats in a decisive victory. The Congress and the Left Front did not win any seats in that election.