Police recovered the charred bodies of at least eight people on Tuesday, 22 March, after miscreants allegedly set fire to the houses of Sona Sheikh, Mihilal Sheikh, Fatik Sheikh, and Banirul Sheikh, supposedly distant relatives of Bhadu Sheikh, in what police suspect is in retaliation to his alleged murder.
While a Special Investigation Team investigates the incident and has made 20 arrests at the time of writing this article, we look at who Bhadu Sheikh was and the chronology of events that led to the violence. gutted, at least eight confirmed dead and three in hospital, villagers fleeing out of fear. Tragedy struck Bogtui village on the outskirts of Rampurhat town in West Bengal’s Birbhum on the night of Monday, 21 March, following the killing of one Trinamool Panchayat leader, Bhadu Sheikh.
According to locals, Bhadu Sheikh used to be initially associated with the Congress before he switched over to the TMC after they won the Assembly Elections in 2011. Since then, he had steadily grown to become an influential person in Birbhum’s Rampurhat.
Sheikh was pronounced dead after he was brought to the government hospital in Rampurhat.
Around 9:30 pm, the locals of Purbapara, saw “a mob charging towards them” with crude bombs and “all elements needed for arson”.
Mihilal Sheikh, an eyewitness of the incident, was hiding a few meters away from his house with his brother to save themselves. He tells The Quint that his wife (Sheli Bibi), daughter (Tuli Khatun) and five other family members were inside the house when attackers allegedly locked the house from outside and started hurling crude bombs at the house. While his wife and family members couldn’t survive, his daughter did.
Around 10 houses were allegedly set ablaze by the mob. Police say that most of these houses had women and children in them.
Seven bodies were recovered from Sona Sheikh’s house. Fatik Sheikh’s wife Meena Bibi succumbed to her injuries at the hospital on Tuesday morning.
Sheikh’s brother Jehangir, when talking to The Indian Express said that Sona and Fatik used to be Bhadu’s friends and colleagues, but they fell apart as he grew in power. He even alleged that he had gotten a call from them threatening to kill his brother.
