Lawyer Mufakarul Islam, the alleged mastermind behind the killing of seven judicial officers in West Bengal’s Malda district, was reportedly arrested while trying to board a plane to escape. According to the news agency PTIThe arrest was made at Bagdogra airport in Siliguri, two days after seven judicial officers were held hostage for eight hours.
“He is the mastermind of the Kaliachak incident in which seven judicial officers were detained inside the BDO office for several hours on Wednesday evening. He was trying to board a flight to escape,” a senior officer told PTI.
So far, police have arrested 33 people, including a candidate for the Internal Security Forces, in the case.
What happened?
Seven judicial officers participating in the Special Intensive Review (SIR) exercise in Malda in West Bengal were detained inside the Kaliachak Building Development Office 2 at 4 pm on Wednesday and kept there for hours.
A large crowd behind their detention was alleging that the real names of voters had been deleted from the electoral rolls ahead of the state assembly elections in Bengal.
Three women were also part of the team of officers held hostage and assigned to adjudicate the cases of voters whose names were marked “under disbarment” on the draft electoral rolls published on February 28.
The SIR campaign faced major opposition in parts of West Bengal, with protesters burning tires and blocking roads in Malda, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Purba Bardhaman, which is scheduled to go to the polls on April 23.
The “total failure” of the Bengali administration
The Supreme Court on Thursday strongly objected to the hostage-taking of judges, calling it an “unfortunate” and “well-calculated and planned” attempt to intimidate the judiciary.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalia Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said: “This is not a routine incident… Prima facie it appears to be a calculated and deliberate move to demoralize judicial personnel and prevent them from discharging their duties.”
The panel added that such behavior “amounts to a challenge to the authority of this court,” because the officers served as its “extended hands” in supervising the SIR process.
The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to deploy central forces at all places where judicial officials adjudicate voter objections.
As HT reported earlier, 18 people, including Maulana Muhammad Shahjahan Ali Qadri, the Indian Secular Front candidate for the Mothbari assembly seat in Malda district, were arrested in connection with the case on Thursday.
