Enquiry ordered into police firing death in West Bengal

KOLKATA - The West Bengal government Friday ordered an enquiry into the death of a man in firing by personnel of the Nagaland India Reserve Battalion (NIRB) in Purulia district.

“This was an unfortunate incident. The local police has been asked to inquire into it. We will inform the central government once we get the report,” state Home Secretary G.D. Gautama told media persons at state secretariat Writers Buildings.

According to police sources, NIRB troopers at Chakbazar tried to stop a car carrying three people. When the occupants of the car, whom the personnel mistook for Maoists, drove on, they opened fire, killing one and injuring two.

Following the incident, local people started a agitation, calling a 12-hour shutdown in the area and blocking a stretch of the National Highway 32, police said.

Residents of the area, however, claimed two people died in the incident. They said said Bikas Mishra died on the spot while Ganesh Kar Gupta who sustained critical injuries later succumbed in the hospital.

According to the local people, the travellers were going to Tatanagar in Jharkhand, when the NIRB personnel indiscriminately fired at them.

The victims family members have lodged a complaint with the police against the NIRB personnel, while the later has also filled a case alleging that the trio tried to attack their camp so they had to fire to ward them off.

“We have started an inquiry into the matter,” Inspector General of Police (Western Zone) Zulfikar Hassan said.