Kolkata, May 16 (UNI) The Calcutta High Court, hearing pleas on the Murshidabad violence following the Waqf Amendment Act protests, has said the Central armed forces will stay in troubled-torn Shamshergunj and Dhulian for now until further orders and advised the West Bengal government to recruit more police personnel.
The court noted that violence could have been avoided if the state had adequate forces, court sources said.
A bench headed by Justice Soumen Sen told both the Centre and state to consider setting up a permanent BSF camp in Samserganj and Dhulian to ensure security to people in areas where communal riots on April 11-12 forced many people to flee after three people were killed and shops and homes were looted.
After issuing the order on Thursday, the judges released the case from their jurisdiction and referred it to Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam for reassignment to another division bench.
The other judge on the bench was Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury.
The chief justice had allotted the bench on April 12 following a petition of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.
The division bench of Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury — constituted urgently by Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam on April 12, a weekly court holiday — took up the case based on a petition from Adhikari and lawyer Tarun Jyoti Tiwari, also a BJP functionary.
The judges observed that it was time the state considered recruiting adequate police force. They also noted that the number of police personnel in each district of the state is inadequate. The police force in Murshidabad is also very small, the high court observed and felt that had there been sufficient police personnel, the situation in Murshidabad could have been brought under control.
The hearing of the case has been postponed until July 30.
Reacting to the HC order and observing, leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the Waqf protest riots in West Bengal depicted a scary state of affairs prevalent in the state.
He also said the report filed by the court-appointed committee spelled out the magnitude of violence in Murshidabad leading to extensive damage to properties and loss of livelihood to the hapless victims.
" The committee records in its reports that channelized destructive forces had brought about near complete devastation of immovable properties of victims. Religious places were also not spared," Adhikari said on his X handle.
"The state's plan to compensate victims has also been held to be without any basis. The committee has also recommended appointment of qualified valuers for assessment of damage and also individualized and customized rehabilitation packages," Adhikari highlighted.
" I welcome the order. The people of Bengal, including the failed police force, should wake up from their deep slumber and ensure that such events don't recur," the Nandigram MLA said.
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