NIA crackdown in Bengal: 15 more arrested during midnight raids across Malda in judicial officers’ siege case
The Statesman | 27 May 2026
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) intensified its crackdown in the politically sensitive Bengal judicial officers hostage case on Tuesday, arresting 15 more accused during overnight raids across Malda district in connection with the violent protests that erupted during the Special Intensive Revision exercise ahead of the Assembly elections. The fresh arrests have pushed the total number of accused held in the case to 65, marking one of the biggest coordinated actions in the probe so far.
The arrests were made during a large-scale operation carried out in the Mothabari and Kaliachak areas, where NIA teams conducted simultaneous searches through the night before detaining the accused identified from CCTV footage linked to the April 1 violence.
The case stems from the April 1 incident in Malda’s minority-dominated Mothabari region, where seven judicial officers assigned to supervise the Special Intensive Revision process were allegedly surrounded, confined and prevented from carrying out their duties by a violent mob protesting against the electoral roll verification exercise.
The judicial officers, appointed by the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, had been examining objections and adjudication lists connected to the voter revision process when the protest escalated inside the Kaliachak-2 block office. Allegations later surfaced that the officers were harassed and illegally detained for several hours until late at night.
According to reports, the 15 accused arrested in the latest operation were identified through surveillance footage and other evidence collected from the protest site. NIA officials reportedly tracked the movement of several suspects before launching coordinated raids across multiple locations in Malda district.
All 15 accused are expected to be produced before the special NIA court in Kolkata.
The agency has been steadily widening its investigation after taking over the case from the state police following directions linked to Supreme Court proceedings.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) transferred the matter to the National Investigation Agency following orders from the Supreme Court, which had expressed concern over the targeting of judicial officers engaged in election-related duties.
Before the NIA assumed control of the investigation, the CID of the West Bengal Police had arrested advocate Mofakkerul Islam, whom investigators said was one of the alleged masterminds behind the protest programme.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court directed the NIA to complete the investigation at the earliest. The bench also ordered that security arrangements for judicial officers involved in the Special Intensive Revision process should continue until further directions.
The National Investigation Agency submitted a status report on the progress of the probe before the apex court on May 11.