NIA arrests two accused in 2 separate Malda pre-poll SIR-related violence & protest cases
New Delhi: Continuing with its investigation into the dozen cases registered in connection with the Malda pre-poll Special Intensive Revision (SIR)-related mob blockades, violence and detention of judicial officers, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrested two more accused persons in two distinct cases.
The accused, identified as Maulana Imran Ali and Rinku SK, have been taken into custody over illegal detention of judicial officers, blockade of a National Highway, disruption of law and order, and attacks on police personnel engaged in official duty during the SIR exercise of electoral rolls in the Malda district of West Bengal.
NIA has registered a total of 12 cases in connection with the Malda violence and protests, and has already filed charge sheets in four of these cases.
The arrests made on Thursday are in cases separate from those four.
A total of 35 accused are currently in judicial custody in connection with the Malda violence, with investigation continuing in all the 12 cases.
Imran and Rinku were apprehended following searches by NIA teams as part of the agency’s investigation into the Malda violence.
The NIA found that the duo had participated actively in the unlawful assemblies that resorted to violence, intimidation, and obstruction during the SIR exercise.
The accused had also played an active role as part of the mobs that had attacked police personnel deployed on law and order duty during these protests, leading to injuries to several policemen, NIA said.
One such mob attack had also caused grievance injuries to the driver of a police bus, who lost control of the vehicle after being hit on his head with a stone.
The NIA, which had launched investigation in these cases on the directives of the Supreme Court which took suo moto cognizance of April’s violence in Malda, is continuing with its efforts to identify others involved in various incidents and to uncover the larger conspiracy behind the violence.
The NIA on June 2 charge sheeted 31 accused in four separate cases related to road blockades and the alleged illegal detention of judicial officers during the SIR of electoral rolls in West Bengal’s Malda district.
The charge sheets were filed before the NIA Special Court in Kolkata based on digital and technical evidence, documentary records, witness statements and other material collected during the investigation into the incidents that took place ahead of the state Assembly elections in April.
The accused have been booked under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, the National Highways Act, 1956, and the West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order (WBMPO) Act, 1972.