WB post-poll violence: NHRC team visits North 24 Parganas' Jagatdal to assess incident

On Friday, June 26, the delegation of the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) team visited the residences of victims who were affected by the post-poll violence in North 24 Parganas' Jagatdal in accordance with the orders of the High Court of Calcutta. 

The team questioned the locals and police related to the post-poll violence incident. 

The National Human Rights Commissions investigates the incident 

On June 21, the National Human Rights Commission chairperson Justice (Retired) Arun Mishra has constituted a committee headed by former Intelligence Bureau chief Rajiv Jain to inquire into the complaints of post-poll violence in West Bengal.

NHRC officials said that the inquiry has been ordered following the orders of the High Court of Calcutta.

The Committee under Jain would include Atif Rasheed, Vice Chairperson, National Commission for Minorities, Rajuben L Desai, Member, National Commission for Women, Santosh Mehra, Director General (Investigation), NHRC, Pradip Kumar Panja, Registrar, West Bengal State Human Rights Commission, Raju Mukherjee, Member Secretary, West Bengal State Legal Services Authority and Manzil Saini, DIG (Investigation), NHRC.

As per the High Court's orders, the NHRC Committee shall examine all complaints received by the National Rights Commission or may receive related to the case of post-poll violence in West Bengal. 

Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had sought a detailed report from the West Bengal government concerning the post-election violence targeting opposition political workers in the state, the post-poll violence-affected areas were visited by a four-member team deputed by the Ministry of Home Affairs. 

After the declaration of the Assembly poll results on May 2, several incidents of violence have been reported at various places. 

High Court dismisses state government's plea

On June 21, the Calcutta High Court dismissed the state government's plea to recall or stay the order over the post-poll violence in West Bengal. The HC ordered the state to provide all logistic support to the panel and warned that obstruction of any kind may invite contempt action. 

As of June 10, the West Bengal Legal Services Authority (WBLSA) had received nearly 3243 complaints pertaining to a range of problems including looting, threats, assault, sexual assault, ransom demand, land-grabbing and forced closure of businesses. 

(With ANI input)
(Image credit: PTI/REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)