Bogtui massacre: CBI shifts makeshift office to Kolkata; CID books 7 over prime accused death

Kolkata: Days after the prime accused in the arson and violence in Bengal's Bogtui village was found hanging in a temporary office of the CBI, the probe agency on Wednesday shifted the makeshift set up in Rampurhat to the metropolis, a senior official said.

The CBI has claimed that Lalan Sheikh died by suicide, while his family alleged that the death resulted from custodial torture.

Some of the family members along with villagers had been staging a sit-in outside the agency's temporary office.

"We have shifted our officers involved in the investigation and made arrangements to transfer all documents and files in connection with the matter to our Kolkata office," he told PTI.

He said the step was a precautionary measure to protect the CBI officers and preserve the documents concerned.

"Our officers stationed at the Rampurhat guest house (temporary office) were not feeling safe. We reviewed the situation and took the decision to shift to Kolkata,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the state CID took over the investigation into the custodial death and sought the post-mortem report from the district police, another official said.

The CID also booked seven CBI officers, including the DIG and an SP, in connection with its probe into the death of Sheikh, he said.

They have been booked on the charge of murder and other sections of the Indian Penal Code, the official said.

Sheikh’s wife Reshma Bibi had on Tuesday filed a complaint at Rampurhat Police Station, alleging that CBI officials had threatened to kill him during their visit to Bogtui village as part of the investigation process.

The CBI has termed the allegations as "baseless and bereft of truth".

When contacted, a CBI official claimed that a few of the seven officers named by CID in its FIR are not linked to the ongoing probe into the Bogtui massacre.

"It is quite mysterious why some of our senior officers who had no link with the Bogtui violence case have been named in the FIR lodged by the CID. We are trying to challenge this move legally," he told PTI.

Meanwhile, the family members of Sheikh conducted the final rites at Bogtui village earlier in the day.

They also staged a demonstration outside the agency's temporary office with the body, demanding action against CBI personnel for Sheikh’s death.

At least 10 people were killed as their houses in the Bogtui village in Rampurhat were allegedly firebombed in the dead of the night on March 21, following the murder of local TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh.