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News Desk: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Saturday directed the West Bengal Director General of Police (DGP) to act over the issue of Sitalkuchi violence that took place in April. In the incident, four people died and few others were injured as CISF personnel opened fire at Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar district during the recent West Bengal assembly elections. The NHRC passed the order after a petition was filed by human rights and social activist and Supreme Court lawyer Radhakanta Tripathy.
Sitalkuchi violence
Violence broke in Sitalkuchi as elections were underway on April 10 in West Bengal. The CISF had claimed that its Quick Reaction Team (QRT) was attacked upon by a mob of over 50-60 miscreants who were allegedly stopping the voters from reaching the polling booth. The situation further escalated when the miscreants attacked the QRT members and their vehicles, thereby leading to a response from the CISF personnel. This further led to the forces firing around six rounds in the air in order to disperse the crowd. However, the crows again returned after an hour and assaulted the Home guard and an Asha worker. Moreover, the mob also attempted to thrash the polling staff who were present for the duty.
The CISF had maintained that the mob approached its personnel leading them fire seven rounds in the air. However, the police authorities arrived after which the mob was dispersed. Even so, rounds were fired at the mob leading to fatal injuries among some miscreants. Some of the miscreants later succumbed to the injuries.
