Amid strong protests by Congress supporters and its councillors, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday formed the Jhalda municipal board.
The development comes a day after the Calcutta High Court had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the murder of Congress councillor Tapan Kandu.
During the recently concluded civic polls, the municipality with 12 wards had thrown a hung verdict with five councilors each of the TMC and the Congress getting elected and independents from two wards. Kandu was killed on March 13 and the number of Congress councillors has dropped to four. An independent councilor switched over to the State’s ruling party taking its tally to six. During the day, Suresh Agarwal of the TMC was elected chairman of the board with six councilors.
The development comes at a time when people of the municipality located in the Purulia district are organising sustained protests over the murder of Kandu.
On Tuesday, hundreds of Congress supporters marched to the municipality where the board formation was scheduled. The supporters particularly women broke barricades and clashed with the police. Purnima Kandu, a Congress councillor and wife of Kandu, entered the municipality and staged a protest against the formation of the board.
Raising slogans “Long Live Tapan Kandu,” Congress councillors walked out of the civic body. The Congress has called a 12–hour bandh in Jhalda on Wednesday protesting against the formation of the Board.
The TMC had won 103 of the 108 civic bodies that went to the polls in the last week of February,
‘Justice must be seen to be done’
The CBI is likely to take over the investigation of the murder from the State police. Justice Rajasekhar Mantha, who on Monday directed the CBI probe to do so, had said “investigation shall be carried out expeditiously and final report is submitted to the jurisdictional Magistrate within 45 days from date. Liberty is reserved to CBI to apply for extension of time”.
Justice Mantha pointed out that the State investigating “agencies appear to have done quick work but there are some omissions in the investigation as pointed out hereinabove”. They have arrested the accused but questions were raised on the role of the officer in–charge of the Jhalda police station. The family members of the Congress leader had said the police officer was pressuring Kandu to join the TMC and there were certain audio recordings to that effect.
“…there is need for instilling faith of the public at large in any investigation, relating to the crime of this nature. The public at large need to see that the Rule of Law is still prevalent, given the gravity and politically sensitive nature of the crime. Justice must be seen to be done,” Justice Mantha said. This was the second instance in the past 10 days when the Calcutta High Court directed the CBI probe, first being the Bogtui massacre in the Birbhum district on March 21, where nine persons were burnt to death in a retaliatory violence to the murder of local TMC leader.
