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Kolkata, April 1 (). The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the West Bengal Police will probe Thursday’s clashes in Howrah district over a Ram Navami procession.
Sources in the state government said the investigation would be carried out by the Special Operations Group (SOG) under the CID and the probe team would be headed by an officer of the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG).
West Bengal Governor C.V. Anand Bose issued a strongly worded statement late on Friday evening directing the police to be objective, firm and fair in the matter.
Sources in the state secretariat said that the decision to hand over the investigation of the case to the CID was taken by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself after discussion with the Governor. In this, he assured the constitutional head of the state of necessary and prompt action in the matter.
The governor has already announced the formation of a special cell at Raj Bhavan for real-time monitoring of the situation.
Meanwhile, there were no fresh incidents of clashes or violence in the restive areas of Howrah district, but the atmosphere remained tense there. Continuous patrolling is being done in the area by mobile police teams and restrictions on assembly in those areas are still in force.
Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari has already filed a PIL seeking a central agency probe into the clashes over the Ram Navami procession.
Meanwhile, the political tussle over the clashes continues. On the one hand, the Trinamool Congress leadership has claimed that tension broke out in Howrah after the organizers of the procession changed the route at the last moment, while the opposition parties like BJP, Congress and CPI(M) said that it was the failure of the police. They could not stop the procession from changing its route.
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