Opposition leaders make a beeline for violence-hit Birbhum village

The legislators led by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari inspected the burnt houses in the village. Demanding a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) or the CBI into the incident, Adhikari claimed that chief minister Mamata Banerjee will be visiting the scene of crime to destroy evidence.

The opposition leader said he had written a letter to the Union home secretary on the issue. “It is a very unfortunate incident, a genocide. The SIT is part of the state police. The President’s rule is the only way to save Bengal,” Adhikari said, blaming the CM for the incident.

BJP MP and the party’s state vice-president Arjun Singh said the CM must take moral responsibility for the incident and step down. “Earlier, it was the opposition workers who were facing the heat. Now it is the Trinamool Congress versus Trinamool Congress in the state. The probe into the killings be handed over to the CBI,” Singh added.

CPI(M) state secretary Md Selim, who was the first to visit Bagtui village in the morning, interacted with the local residents. “While goons set houses fire and killed innocent men, women and children, the police remained inactive. Why was the forensic team so late in reaching the spot? It is also suspected that the police buried the bodies last night. The state government and the ruling party need to be brought to task,” said Selim while speaking to the media.

Later, former Left Front chairman Biman Bose tried to visit the village but was stopped by the police from entering the area, citing inspection by the forensic team. “I am waiting. I have been told that the forensic team is there and I cannot go,” Bose told mediapersons.

State Transport Minister Firhad Hakim lashed out at the opposition and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar. “It is an unfortunate incident. Action is being taken by the police. Why were the BJP and the Governor silent when a minister’s son mauled down farmers in Uttar Pradesh? The CPM is nowhere but is desperately trying to get some limelight through all this,” said Hakim in Kolkata.

Meanwhile, the TMC said the BJP members were out on a picnic”. Sharing on Twitter a video of BJP leaders at a sweetmeat shop savouring local delicacies on their way to the spot where the killings took place, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that “the saffron camp made arrangements for the visit of its members to violence-hit Birbhum, but they are having a picnic on their way to the district”.