The Central Bureau of Investigation took over the probe into the Netai killings from West Bengal's Criminal Investigation Department here on Tuesday.
This follows the interim order passed by the Calcutta High Court on Friday last, directing the government to hand over the investigations to the CBI, after expressing dissatisfaction with the progress made by the CID.
Nine persons of Netai village in Paschim Medinipur district were killed on January 7 when ‘harmads' (hired goons), allegedly engaged by some local leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), opened fire at villagers gathered there.
“The CID handed over the case diary and the custody of three persons – Abani Singh, Ashwini Chalak and Suvendu Mondal - arrested so far to the CBI at the State police headquarters,” Anuj Sharma, CID's Special Inspector General, said.
CBI spokesperson R.K. Gaur confirmed to The Hindu from New Delhi that a case had been registered based on the first information report. “The same sections of the Indian Penal Code have been charged against those named in the FIR,” Mr. Gaur said.
The Calcutta High Court had asked the CBI to submit a preliminary report within 15 days of taking charge of the case.
Four persons, whose names feature in the FIR, are yet to be traced. They are the CPI(M')s Lalgarh local committee secretary Joydeb Giri, local CPI(M) leaders Fullora Mondal and Tapan Dey and Rathin Dandapat, from whose house bullets were fired.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice J.N. Patel and Justice Asim Kumar Roy had observed that the CID could not make any progress in identifying the suspects, barring those named in the FIR, even after arresting three persons.
The court ruling was passed on a petition filed by the Calcutta High Court Bar Association on January 10 seeking that the investigations into the incident be handed over to the CBI.
The State government is planning to challenge the Calcutta High Court ruling in the Supreme Court after consulting legal experts.
