NIA starts Beldanga probe, state govt replaces dist SP
Times of India | 1 February 2026
Beldanga (Murshidabad): Coinciding with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) taking over the probe in the Jan 16-17 Beldanga violence, the Bengal govt on Saturday transferred Murshidabad police superintendent Kumar Sunny Raj and replaced him with Dhritiman Sarkar. Raj will now replace Sarkar as the Intelligence Branch special superintendent.
According to Bengal govt seniors, the manner in which the violence and its aftermath were handled by local police did not go down well with Nabbana. The govt also did not take lightly the fact that journalists, including a lady, were assaulted at work. The NH-12 — a crucial north-south gateway — also remained blocked for hours over two days.
The NIA began its probe on a day Union home minister Amit Shah was in Bengal. An eight-member NIA team reached Murshidabad late on Friday. On Saturday morning, the officers first went to Beldanga police station, where three cases were initiated over violence following 30-year-old Alauddin Sheikh's death in Jharkhand on Jan 14.
Police officers provided details on the arrested 38 persons. Two persons were later released: one was mentally challenged, and the other was seen on CCTV footage helping journalists who were attacked reach a safe place in his Toto. A Jharkhand Police report has also reached the state which prima facie indicates that Alauddin, a hawker, could have died by suicide. This is also likely to be shared with the NIA.
NIA officers also went to the SP's office in Murshidabad to collect a detailed case report. When informed that it was sent to court, the officials visited the Behrampore Chief Judicial Court for the report.
NIA officers are trying to collect CCTV footage and plan to talk with Sona Bibi and Nekbas Sheikh, mother and father of the deceased labourer of Tatlapara-Sujapur, to know who took their son's body to NH-12 at Maheshpur after the body arrived from Jharkhand.
A PIL was filed in Calcutta HC seeking deployment of central forces in violence-hit Beldanga. The HC left it to the Centre on whether it required NIA to probe the incident. The Centre on Friday formally asked the NIA to take over probe.