Birbhum violence: Villagers recount horrors of fire, say there's no security

Clucking of hens were unstoppable as their coop was lifted and placed onto a mechanised van rickshaw, with the poultry trapped inside. Jelina Bibi, who reared the birds, did not have time to pay attention to such triviality.

She was busy collecting all her household items to flee her Bogtui village in West Bengal’s Birbhum district where, only hours ago, eight people were burnt to death, after being trapped inside their houses. Smoke was still wafting from the charred remains of the gutted house, next to Jelina’s. A forensic team was rummaging the debris, looking for evidence.

Neither the investigation process nor the presence of a huge contingent of police force in the village instilled a sense of security among the Bogtui residents like Jelina Bibi.

When The Federal visited the village on Wednesday, a day after the police retrieved eight burnt bodies, including that of a child aged below seven and a newly married couple, most houses were locked, their occupants having fled to a safer place, fearing the worst was not over yet.

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Bibi was one of the few who had stayed back with her two teenage daughters and domesticated fowls and cattle even after the carnage. But since Wednesday morning, gripped by some unspoken fear, she decided the village, where her family called the shots till a few days ago, was no longer safe.

Plea for protection

“Can you give me protection? Can this police force assure my safety? Please leave us alone, we have to ensure our own security,” Jelina retorted, when asked whether she got any threat that made her change the decision to stay put in the village.

“They are capable of doing anything. I cannot risk staying with my teenage daughters here,” Bibi said while loading household goods into the van.

By “they” she meant local Trinamool Congress leader Sona Sheikh, his in-laws and close aides. It was from Sona Sheikh’s one-storey house that seven charred bodies were recovered on Tuesday. In all, around 10 houses were set on fire on that ill-fated Monday night.

Preliminary forensic reports suggest that victims were assaulted before setting them ablaze.

A suo motu complaint lodged by police linked the carnage to the murder of a TMC panchayat deputy Bhadu Sheikh on Monday night.

Jelina’s husband Bikir Ali and son Joseev Ali were among the 20 suspects arrested in connection with the arson-killing.

Bhadu was the brother-in-law of Jelina. His sudden rise in politics and growing business allegedly caused heartburn among his once associate and close aide Sona Sheikh.

Brutal retaliation

On Monday evening, at around 8 pm, 10-11 bike-borne assailants threw bombs at Bhadu while he was sitting on his scooter at a market corner, which was just 1 km away from his residence, and talking on his phone. He was declared dead after being rushed to the hospital.

The killing apparently triggered a brutal retaliation later that night. It was the worst carnage since the TMC government came to power over a decade ago and rekindled the memory of Netai in West Midnapore district, where nine people were killed in once incident in January 2011, just months ahead of the CPI(M)-led Left Front’s crushing defeat in the Assembly elections.

Monday’s incident, however, was anticipated since a long time, given the bitter rivalry between two TMC groups over the share of spoils of illegal sand and stone mining and extortion money (innocuously called toll) collected from trucks carrying sands and stones.

A year ago, Bhadu’s elder brother Babar Sheikh, who was also a local TMC leader, was killed, setting off a chain of violence in the village. A few months later a close aide of Bhadu, Bapi Sheikh was shot dead.

For both the killings, Bhadu and his family pointed fingers at Sona Sheikh. Fearing for his life, Sona went into hiding.

“For about a year, Sona has not been seen in the village,” said Saher Alam Sheikh, an elderly resident of Bogtui, who feel they are now caught in the turf war between two influential TMC factions.

“There had been some semblance of peace in the village after Sona went into hiding. But who could imagine that spell was a calm before the storm? My wife and I were offering namaaz on Monday evening. Suddenly, around 8 pm there was commotion and shouting outside. We heard people shouting that Bhadu was killed,” Saher Alam recalled.

“Later that night, we were jolted out of the sleep by another round of commotion, shouting and crying. I came out to see houses of Sona Sheikh and his in-laws on fire,” Alam said.

Alam alleged police inaction led to the second incident. “After Bhadu’s killing, the police did not take any precautionary action to protect the families of Sona Sheikh and his relatives, despite knowing well that there could be retaliation. Even after the houses were set on fire, police did not reach the village immediately,” he alleged.

Mamata admits lapse on part of police

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who visited the village on Thursday afternoon, admitted lapse on the part of the police and assured action against the erring officials. The officer-in-charge of the local police station and sub-divisional police officer were suspended.

“Administration would ensure return of those who had left the village and would provide them security,” Banerjee said, announcing a compensation of ₹2 lakh for the people whose houses were burnt and ₹5 lakh for those whose family members were killed.

“Police will take stringent action against those involved in the killings and will prevent recurrence of such incidents in the future,” Banerjee asserted.

Will that bring peace in the village? Saher Alam is not very convinced. He said that unless the unlawful activities that mushroomed in the village are rooted out, peace cannot be permanent in Bogtui.