HC slams NIA's ‘casual approach' in Darivit case
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Kolkata: Criticising NIA's "casual approach" for not submitting a report in the 2018 Darivit school firing case, Calcutta High Court on Monday directed the agency to file it by July 9.
On Sept 20, 2018, two youths were killed at North Dinajpur's Islampur when cops fired on people protesting against appointment of teachers at Darivit High School. The deceased were Tapas Barman and Rajesh Sarkar.
Told that the informal report had not been signed yet and would take three more weeks to be submitted, a division bench of justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Reetobroto Kumar Mitra said: "I will give appropriate remarks against your officer.
They have become very strong and are thinking what will the high court do. It is a casual approach. Do not justify your conduct. In 2024, you were asked to come with a report."
The bench asked the NIA counsel when the charge sheet would be filed. The counsel said: "After the probe is over. It will take some time." Asked for an exact time, the counsel added: "It's a faulty probe by the state authorities. No evidence was collected." The bench also asked the victims' families why they had not accepted the Rs 2 lakh compensation. Their counsel said that the state had initially agreed to pay Rs 20 lakh to each family.
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