With charred walls, broken window panes and heaps of ash strewn around, Sona Sheikh’s single-storeyed house stands out in Baktui village in Rampurhat town of West Bengal’s Birbhum district. Drones were flying atop the house guarded by policemen from all sides as a delegation from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) thronged to the damaged dwelling on Wednesday.
On Monday evening, seven persons, including women and children, were burnt alive in this house. The number of deaths following the murder of Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) Deputy Pradhan Bhadu Sheikh stands at eight.
The room located at the south-west of the house is visible. All the victims had assembled here to escape violence but it was their charred remains that were extricated by fire fighters on Tuesday morning.
More than 50 houses in the neighborhood are locked and almost all men, women and children have fled the village after the violence. “Can I stay in my house tonight? I have weak knees, and I have two cows and some poultry to take care of,” Shah Alam Sheikh asked as a BJP delegation led by Suvendu Adhikari was visiting the village. All his family members, including his two sons and wife, fled Baktui on Tuesday morning. Mr. Sheikh, who fed the cows while taking an occasional break for prayers, narrated the events of Monday night.
“We heard bombs being hurled and men running in the village shouting, ‘Jaake paabi maar, sobai ke sesh kor (beat up everyone, finish them off). All of us closed our doors and stayed inside the whole night,” he said.
Mr. Sheikh said that the men who had come to take revenge after the murder of Bhadu Sheikh, attacked the house of Sona Sheikh and stayed there all night, while nobody dared to come out of their houses. It was only on Tuesday morning that people came to know of the gruesome incident. The accounts of several villagers like Mr. Sheikh leaves little that doubt that the attack on Monday evening was in retaliation for the murder of Bhadu Sheikh just hours previously.
The newly constructed house of Bhadu Sheikh, and that of Sona Seikh, stand only 50 metres apart. Their construction is elaborate for a rural hamlet like Baktui, hinting at the owners’ higher economic means beyond agriculture and livestock rearing.
As dusk descended on the village and the fleet of media persons began to disperse, only policemen stood guard on the neighbourhood. Smoke was seen rising even 48 hours later from some houses that were set on fire on Monday. A look at five houses that were set on fire revealed that the miscreants had specifically targeted the homes of people close to Sona Sheikh, as none the houses attacked were adjacent to each other.
About 40 km from Baktui, several members of Sona Sheikh’s family have taken shelter at the house of a relative, Mihilal Sheikh, at Sainthia. “My mother called and said, ‘daughter, save me, they are breaking open the grill and pouring diesel!’ We went to the local Trinamool club for help. After some time, her phone was switched off,” the daughter of Dolly Bibi, among those who died in the fire, said.
Najema Bibi, who is admitted to a State-run hospital in Birbhum with 65% burn injuries, said that they had closed the iron grill from inside but the miscreants poured petrol and set the house on fire. “There were ten of us who had locked ourselves to escape violence,” she said. Men belonging to the faction opposed to Bhadu Sheikh fled soon after the murder, leaving women and children vulnerable to attack by the opposing faction.
As the political slugfest continued over the deaths, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday expressed hope that the State government would take strict action against the culprits and assured all help from the Centre. “I express my grief and sympathy for the violent deaths in Birbhum. I hope the State government will punish those who committed this heinous crime in the sacred soil of Bengal. I will appeal to the people of Bengal to not forgive those who are encouraging such criminals. The Centre is ready to help out the State government in any way to punish the criminals,” Mr. Modi said.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the State was taking necessary action and that she would visit the village on Thursday. “It is our government. Why will we want people to be murdered? Those who are not in government hatch such conspiracies to defame the government. The development at Rampurhat is unfortunate, and I have called Rampurhat 50 times after that and taken action against the police officers,” Ms. Banerjee added.
The war of words between the Chief Minister and the Governor over the violence continued for the second consecutive day.
Meanwhile, the number of people arrested in the murder of Bhadu Shaikh and the subsequent violence increased to 22. Officials of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the State government also visited the village along with forensic experts.
The Calcutta High Court, which took suo motu cognisance of the matter on Wednesday, issued instructions, which include setting up CCTV cameras in the village and assuring witness protection in the case. While the court has not yet decided to have a probe by central investigating agencies, it has sought the case diary and a report from the State police on Thursday.
