Kolkata, 20 February (H.S.):

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday approached the Calcutta High Court, alleging that the state police have failed to hand over the case diary in connection with the Beldanga riot case of Murshidabad, despite court directions.

On Friday, the NIA lawyer filed a case in the Chief Justice's division bench. Meanwhile, the state has also filed a new case in the High Court, challenging the lower court's decision to transfer documents and request a hearing as per the Supreme Court's order.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sujoy Pal and Justice Chaitali Chattopadhyay Das stated that the case will be heard next Tuesday by a division bench headed by Chief Justice Sujoy Pal and Justice Parthasarathi Sen, as the case had been heard before that bench. Therefore, the next hearing will now be held on Tuesday.

Last month, riots broke out in Beldanga, Jharkhand, following the news of the death of Alauddin Sheikh, a migrant worker from Murshidabad. On January 16th, Alauddin's body was brought to his native village. It was then that the people of the area began expressing their anger and creating a ruckus.

Rail blockades, vandalism, arson, and a blockade of the national highway were carried out on the Sealdah-Lalgola branch, alleging that Alauddin, a Bengali-speaking laborer, had been beaten to death in another state. However, after a preliminary investigation, the Jharkhand police claimed that Alauddin had committed suicide.

In this case, the High Court had stated that the Central Government could have the NIA investigate if it wished. Following this, the Home Ministry ordered an NIA investigation. The Kolkata Municipal Court ordered the NIA to hand over the case diary in the Beldanga case. The lower court had ordered the transfer of the case diary by February 26th. However, the NIA lawyer stated in court that the case diary had not yet been submitted.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey