The National Investigation Agency (NIA), on January 7, filed a chargesheet against 14 people in connection with the October 9 communal violence in the Mominpore locality of Kolkata, West Bengal. The anti-terror agency submitted the chargesheet relating to the targeted attacks by Islamists on the Hindu community in Mominpore at NIA’s special court in Kolkata.
The complaint was originally filed on October 10 at the Ekbalpur Police Station in Kolkata, West Bengal, and was re-filed by the NIA on October 18 last year. Those named in the chargesheet have been identified as Md Fakruddin Siddique, Md Salauddin Siddique, Md Sahabuddin Siddique, Md Idul Siddique, Md Ziauddin, Badrul Hossain, Ohab Hossain, Mustafa Hussain, Zakir Hossain, Gholam Md Izhar, Md Faiyaz, Sunny, Raju, and Imamul Haque.
NIA Files ChargeSheet against 14 accused in Mominpur Communal Violence pic.twitter.com/zT8VgV74lh
— NIA India (@NIA_India) January 9, 2023
The accused have been charged under Indian Penal Code sections 120B, 147, 149, 152, 332, 353, and 436, as well as Sections 3 and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908. Investigations indicated that the accused plotted a criminal conspiracy and met in an unlawful assembly to attack people’s homes and stores in Gali No. 8, Bhukailash Road, Kolkata, using crude bombs, petrol bombs, wooden sticks, brickbats, and stones.
According to the chargesheet, the accused people, as part of an unruly crowd, blocked the police force from accessing Bhukailash Road to contain the disturbances and even attacked Kolkata Police officials. Reports mention that the chargesheet was submitted three days after the NIA conducted searches at 17 places in Kolkata on January 4 and confiscated Rs 33.87 lakh in cash from the house of three absconding accused.
During the searches, the NIA recovered a total of Rs 33,87,300, and sharp-edged weapons and other incriminating materials were seized. Rs 30,55,000 were recovered by NIA from accused Md Salauddin Siddique’s house and Rs 1,59,300 from Zakir Hossain’s house, and Rs 1,73,000 from Tipu’s house.
The NIA took up the case after the Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) Counter Terrorism and Counter Radicalization (CTCR) division instructed it to record an FIR and conduct a comprehensive investigation due to the seriousness of the situation. The MHA’s ruling followed a directive issued by the Calcutta High Court in October while hearing a writ petition about the communal violence in Ekbalpore and Mominpore. The Court directed the state police to assemble a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of experienced police officers to investigate the occurrence.
The petitioners had moved the Court, saying that the state police administration stood by while communal violence erupted in Kolkata’s Ekbalpore-Mominpore district on the occasion of Laxmi Puja. As a result, the petitioners requested that the Central Paramilitary Forces be deployed to maintain peace in the area. They also asked the investigation of the crimes to be transferred to the NIA, citing the State Police’s inability to conduct a fair probe.
On October 9 the Hindu community in the Mominpore locality of Kolkata in West Bengal came under attack as they geared up to celebrate the annual Lakshmi Puja. As reported earlier, bikes and shops belonging to Hindus were vandalized by Islamists at Maila Depot in Mominpore. The Hindu community was forced to flee after their houses came under attack in Mayurbhanj in the Kolkata port area.
Under the false allegation that an Islamic flag was desecrated, the accused also ambushed the Ekbalpur police station and forced the cops to flee.
According to the NIA press release, the case was first registered on October 10, 2022, at the Ekbalpur Police Station in Kolkata, West Bengal, and was then re-registered by the NIA on October 18, 2022.
