The Supreme Court has ordered a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the pre-planned gherao of judicial officers in Malda, West Bengal. The top court also pulled up the state's chief secretary for not responding to calls from the Calcutta High Court chief justice and asked him to apologize.
The incident, which occurred last week, involved a large mob gheraoing seven judicial officers appointed by the Calcutta High Court over the deletion of names from the electoral roll. The Supreme Court has ordered the interrogation of 26 people arrested by the West Bengal police in connection with the incident.
The court's decision comes as a political slugfest between the TMC and the BJP continues over the incident. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged that the hostage-taking was pre-planned, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described it as a sign of "maha jungle raj" under the TMC government.
