NIA ARRESTS 11 MORE IN WEST BENGAL RAM NAVMI VIOLENCE CASES
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested 11 more accused in the conspiracy relating tothe communal violence that took place during Ram Navami celebrations in West BengalMarch2023.
These arrests have come less than a month after 16 persons were arrested by NIA in the six cases,which were transferred to the NIA on 27th April 2023.
These 11 accused were also among those involved in conspiring and perpetrating the attacks onmembers of a particular community, triggered by one such incident during a procession to celebrateRam Navami in Shibpur, Howrah Police Commissionerate, on 30th March 2023. During the courseof its investigations, NIA had identified the accused from video footages seized from variouslocations. Investigations also led the NIA to other major revelations, resulting in these arrests, aswell as the arrest of 16 persons on 26th February 2024.
The 11 arrested accused have been identified as Shamim Ahmed @ Bare, Balwant Singh, MehmudAlam,Mehfooz Alam @ Sonu, Shamshad Alam @ Danish, Mohammad AliSuraj, Salim Jawed @Jawad, Sarfaraz Alam @ Lalan, Firoj Khan, Md. Sameer Ansari @ Raj and Shamshad Hussain @Shamshad Ali @ Raja. Allthem are residents of Shibpur, Howrah.
The case was initially registered by the State Police against 36 persons in the wake of thecommunal violence triggered by the attack at 4th By Lane, PM Basti, Shibpur, Howrah. The HighCourt of Calcutta had, on 27th April 2023, ordered the transfer of all the cases related to the spateof communal violence that took place during the Ram Navmi celebrations to NIA.
NIA is continuing its investigations in the case.