NIA Takes Over Malda Mob Attack Probe on Judicial Officers

The National Investigation Agency has taken over the investigation into an incident in West Bengal's Malda district where seven judicial officers were surrounded and held captive by a mob for more than nine hours on April 1, following a Supreme Court directive to ensure an independent probe.

The officers, including three women and a five-year-old child, were conducting Special Intensive Revision work on electoral rolls at locations in Kaliachak II block office and Mothabari Chowrangi when locals allegedly gheraoed them starting around 3:30 p.m. The group was confined without food or water until after midnight, when they were rescued with assistance from state officials alerted by the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court. As the officers departed, their vehicles were pelted with stones and attacked with sticks and bricks, prompting concerns over a breakdown in law and order.

In response, local police registered 12 First Information Reports: seven at Mothabari station and five at Kaliachak station. Authorities have arrested between 26 and 35 individuals so far, including two alleged key figures, Mofakerrul Islam and Maulana Muhammad Shahjahan Ali Qadri. Investigators are...