West Bengal Ram Navami Violence Case: NIA arrests 11 Islamists involved in the attack on Shobha Yatra

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has made significant breakthrough in its probe into the violence by a group of people be;longing to aparticular community that erupted during Ram Navami celebrations in West Bengal last year. In a recent development, the agency has arrested 11 IIslamists apart from other accused over their suspected involvement in the conspiracy behind the incidents of violence.

These arrests have come less than a month after 16 persons were arrested by the NIA in the six cases, which were transferred to the NIA on April 27 last year.

These 11 accused were also among those involved in conspiring and perpetrating the attacks on members of a particular community, triggered by one such incident during a procession to celebrate Ram Navami in Shibpur, Howrah Police Commissionerate, on March 30 last year.

During the course of its investigations, the NIA had identified the accused from video footages seized from various locations. “Investigations also led the NIA to other major revelations, resulting in these arrests, as well as the arrest of 16 persons on February 26 this year,” said the agency.

The 11 arrested accused have been identified as Shamim Ahmed alias Bare, Balwant Singh, Mehmud Alam, Mehfooz Alam alias Sonu, Shamshad Alam alias Danish, Mohammad Ali alias Suraj, Salim Jawed alias Jawad, Sarfaraz Alam alias Lalan, Firoj Khan, Md. Sameer Ansari alias Raj and Shamshad Hussain alias Shamshad Ali alias Raja. All of them are residents of Shibpur, Howrah.

The case was initially registered by the West Bengal Police against 36 persons in the wake of the communal violence triggered by the attack at 4th By Lane, PM Basti, Shibpur, Howrah. The High Court of Calcutta had, on April 27 last year, ordered the transfer of all the cases related to the spate of communal violence that took place during the Ram Navmi celebrations to NIA. (With inputs from ANI)