The fact-finding committee set up by the Calcutta High Court submitted its report on the communal violence that occurred in West Bengal’s Murshidabad in highlighting the “inactivity and absence” of police during the incidents at Dhulian on April 11. The report said that Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mehboob Alam directed the attacks, sources said.
What the SIT find out?
As per sources, the report states, “Local Councillor, namely Mehoob Alam, came with the miscreants on April 11, 2025. MLA was also present; he saw the vandalism and went away. But the violence continued on April 12, 2025.”
“Attacks were directed by the local councillor Mehboob Alam,” the report states, adding that local police were “completely inactive and absent.”
The committee — comprising Joginder Singh, Registrar (Law), National Human Rights Commission; Satya Arnab Ghosal, Member Secretary, West Bengal Legal Services Authority; and Saugata Chakraborty, Registrar, West Bengal Judicial Service — was tasked with identifying and assessing the damages and rehabilitation needs of the victims displaced by the violence.
The committee documented that “as many as 113 houses were badly affected in the village of Betbona.”
“The majority of residents had to take shelter in Malda, but all of them have been forced to return by the police administration,” the report alleges.
Temples were also destroyed during the violence, the report said.
According to news agency PTI, the High Court division bench, comprising Justices Soumen Sen and Raja Basu Chowdhury, observed that the victims require “individualised and customised rehabilitation packages” and stressed the necessity of “appointing qualified valuation experts” for effective recovery and compensation.
BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi attacks TMC
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sudhanshu Trivedi on Wednesday (May 21) launched a scathing attack on the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government over the handling of Murshidabad violence that erupted during the protest against the Waqf (amendment) act, stating that the fact-finding SIT’s reports revealed government’s “cruelty” towards Hindus.
The BJP Rajya Sabha MP said that the SIT report on violence has “clearly” and “unambiguously” indicated that violence was carried out by targeting Hindus and TMC leaders were involved in it.
Further questioning the role of the Police during the violence, Trivedi accused them of ignoring the actions of TMC leaders.
“According to some media reports, the SIT report on Murshidabad violence has clearly and unambiguously indicated that violence was carried out by targeting Hindus and TMC leaders were involved in it and the attitude of the police, instead of stopping the violence, seems to be ignoring the actions of TMC leaders,” Trivedi said.
“The chain of violence against Hindus by targeting them is clearly visible from Murshidabad to Pahalgam. The way the facts are coming out from the fact-finding SIT in Murshidabad violence, it is showing the cruelty of Mamata Banerjee’s government towards Hindus and the immense affection towards the fundamentalists,” he added.
“The West Bengal Police did not respond. The villagers of Betbona called at 4 p.m. on Friday and 4 p.m. on Saturday but police did not pick up the call,” the reports added.
“A man came back to the village and saw which houses were not attacked and then the miscreants came and set fire to those houses,” the report further added.
The reports also said that the miscreants cut off the water connection so that the fire could not be extinguished with water.
“The miscreants have burnt all the clothes in the house with the kerosene oil and the woman of the house had no clothes to cover her body,” it added.
The report referring to the murder of Haragobinda Das (74) and his son Chandan Das (40), the report states, “They broke down the main door of the house and took her son (Chandan Das) and took her husband [Haragobinda Das] and hit them with an axe in the back. A man was waiting there until they died.”
Earlier, the West Bengal government had submitted a report to the court indicating widespread violence between April 8 and April 12 linked to protests over the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025. The government’ report stated that following intervention by the police and civil administration, the situation in Suti, Dhulian, Samserganj and Jangipur was under control.
VHP’s response to the report
Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s, National Spokesperson, Vindo Bansal wrote on X, “Before Jammu and Kashmir, Mamata’s team should go to Murshidabad, apologise to Hindus and get them justice: Didi’s five-member team will go from Bengal to Jammu and Kashmir but will not miss Murshidabad. Wow Didi Wow!! On one hand the terrorist’s lover is worried about the terrorist deaths in Pakistan, while on the other hand Didi is worried about the terrorist hideouts destroyed in Jammu and Kashmir, leaving Murshidabad.”
जम्मू कश्मीर से पूर्व मुर्शिदाबाद जाए ममता की टोली, हिंदूओं से माफ़ी मांग, दिलाए न्याय:
दीदी की पांच सदस्य टीम बंगाल से जम्मू कश्मीर तो जाएगी लेकिन, मुर्शिदाबाद की याद नहीं आएगी।
वाह दीदी वाह!! एक ओर आतंकियों की महबूबा को पाकिस्तान में हुई आतंकी मौतों की चिंता है तो वहीं दीदी को…— विनोद बंसल Vinod Bansal বিনোদ বনসল వినోద్ బన్సాల్ (@vinod_bansal) May 21, 2025
He added, “It would have been better if you had first sent this team to Murshidabad where the massacre and migration of Hindus took place at the behest of your TMC leader. It would be good if you read the gruesome report of the Hon’ble High Court’s investigation committee where your police was inactive and absent during the Jihadi violence. This investigation team also included members of the National Human Rights Commission, State Legal Services Authority and Judicial Services. This report also highlights the indiscriminate arson, looting and destruction of shops and markets. The Hon’ble High Court will give its verdict, if there is some shame left then at least Mamata ji should apologise for this incident and provide immediate justice to the victims.”
What Organiser found on ground?
Notably, following the horrific violence, Organiser had been on ground and met the family members of Haragobinda Das and Chandan Das. Speaking about the fateful day, Chandan’s wife, Pinki Das clutching her minor daughter, stood trembling. Her voice cracked in disbelief while recounting the murderous assault. “They dragged him outside and killed my husband and my father-in law…we kept calling the police but no one answered. The bodies were lying near our house for over three hours.”
Her words were muffled by her sobs. She didn’t need to describe the horror – the shattered windows, the charred walls, the dried black stains on the ground did the talking. That “black spot” isn’t dirt—it’s blood, the last physical trace of Chandan, dried by the Bengal heat, witnessed by the helpless eyes of her minor daughter.
Hargobind Das had run to save his son. He never returned. “They separated him, beat him, and killed him here,” says a neighbour, pointing to another dried pool of blood ten steps away.
The threat hasn’t ended. Locals alleged that after the murders, Islamists in the area warned them: “This was just the trailer. The film is yet to begin.”
Another victim, Kalpana Das, a resident of Betbona, remembers every single second of the horror. “We were inside our homes when mobs began attacking – smashing windows, breaking doors. They set homes and shops on fire, and even desecrated our temple. Murders took place in broad daylight. From 9 in the morning till 2 in the afternoon, the rampage continued. And we kept calling the police. But they never came.”
“What did come, hours later, was the BSF. Only when BSF arrived did we feel protected,” Kalpana said. “That’s why we are demanding a permanent BSF camp here. We no longer trust Mamata’s police.” Her voice was steady, but the trauma in her eyes lingers.
Kalpana Das was not alone. Rupali Das, a victim of violence from Shamsherganj shared her pain. “The Muslims in our area are openly threatening us. They said what happened was just a trailer—the full movie is still coming.”
Another woman with extreme pain came forward and said, “We are just Hindus who lived peacefully. Now our temples are gone. Our houses are destroyed. Not a single policeman came to help.”
“The police station at Shamsherganj is just 3 kilometers away,” said a young girl. “Even with bad roads, they could’ve been here in 30 minutes. But they didn’t come. For us, it felt like 300 kilometers. were abandoned.”
And so, from village to village, whether a man or woman, a single demand echoes louder was, “We want BSF camp.”
In the chaos that followed in Murshidabad, hundreds of Hindu families fled their homes, seeking safety in the neighbouring district of Malda. Among them were pregnant women, children, youth and elders carrying nothing but trauma and fear in their eyes. Their shelter became the Parlalpur High School, a building barely 500 metre on the banks of the Ganga, when it was turned into a refugee camp.
But even this temporary shelter didn’t last long.
When the Organiser team reached Betbona village of Murshidabad to speak with the victims, what they narrated was not just sorrow, it was disbelief mingled with anger.“(Mamata er police amader ke bhoy dekhiye refugee camp theke bari phiriye diyeche. Ora bollo, ekhane apnar shathe ki hobe, tar daitto nebo na. Ekhon apni bolun, bari toh jaliye rakh kore dilo. Amra ekhane kivabe thakbo?)
Mamata’s police threatened us and forced us to leave the refugee camp and return to our village. Whatever wrong happens to you here, we won’t be responsible. Now you tell me, how can we live here? There is nothing left except the ashes. Everything’s been looted and burnt”, said Rumpa Mandal of Betbona, her voice trembling with rage. “Mamata’s police threatened us, told us to leave the school camp and return to our village. “Whatever happens to you there, we won’t be responsible,” they said.
Gopal Mandal, another resident of Betbona, echoed her words. He and others were left with no choice. Staying in the camp had become risky but because of mounting pressure from authorities, determined to project an illusion of normalcy, they had to leave.
Murshidabad has just been a grim picture of what has been simmering in Bengal for years now.
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