Murshidabad violence: Police were inactive and local TMC leader involved, reports fact-finding committee

The committee in its report claimed police did not respond to calls from the locals when the miscreants were unleashing violence.

The committee, which was set up by Division Bench of Justices Soumen Sen and Raja Basu Chowdhury, comprised 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.

The submitted report said local TMC councillor Mehoob Alam had come with the miscreants on April 11.

"Local Councilor (Councillor) namely Mehoob Alam came with the miscreants on 11th April, 2025. MLA is also present on Friday, he saw the vandalism and went away. But the violence continued on 12th April, 2025, Saturday. A man named Amirul Islam came back to the village and saw which houses were not attacked and then the miscreants came and set fire to those house (s)," it said.

In a portion of the report shared by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT Cell head Amit Malviya reads, "residents from Samsreganj, Hizaltala, Shiulitala, Digri reportedly participated while masking their faces."

"MLA witnessed the vandalism on Friday (11th April) but left. The violence continued on 12th April 2025 (Saturday). Amirul Islam observed unburned houses, which were later attacked."

The report claims as quoted by The Hindu, "113 houses were affected badly, in the village of Betbona the said occurrences”. One the role of the police, the committee quotes a victim saying, “The West Bengal Police did not respond. The villager of Betbona called at 4 p.m. on Friday and 4p.m on Saturday but police did not pick up the call."

Launching a fierce attack on the TMC government in West Bengal, Malviya wrote on X, " This entirely demolishes Mamata Banerjee’s oft-repeated claim that “outsiders” were responsible. The unvarnished truth is this: the Murshidabad riots were orchestrated by the TMC to engineer demographic attrition of Hindus in this sensitive border district.

"Mamata Banerjee is a blight on Bengal’s legacy. Her politics violates the very spirit behind the creation of West Bengal — a homeland for Bengali Hindus, not a playground for vote-bank violence."

Trivedi has also equated the Murshidabad violence with the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack where 26 tourists, mostly Hindus, were killed.

Reacting to BJP's allegations, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, "BJP is playing dirty politics. Our leadership will analyse whether the report is complete or not and respond to it accordingly. We condemn what had happened in Murshidabad but Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the administration has taken all the necessary steps.

"Arrests have been made, compensation has been given and the process is underway. The investigation into the influx of outsiders from across the border is on. What BJP leaders are doing is dirty, provocative and poisonous politics."

Anti-Waqf violence in Murshidabad

The tension gripped the Muslim-dominated Murshidabad district after three people were killed, railway tracks were blocked, and there was arson and vandalism by the violent protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act held primarily in Jangipur, Samserganj, Dhuliyan and Suti.

Over 200 people have been arrested in connection with that violence so far.

Attacked by marauding mobs, Hindus from villages fled in boats and via roads to the adjacent district of Malda as Islamic violence claimed three lives and destroyed properties.

The situation was brought under control and the tension was reigned after central forces were deployed as per the directive of the Calcutta High Court in response to Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari's plea.

Videos from ferry ghats showed hordes of Hindu families, including women, children and elderly, fleeing to the safety of the Malda district.