Kolkata, Jan 15: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has appointed a one-man committee with broad terms of reference to independently probe the violence at the Baranagar Jute Factory on January 13 that left two officers and one worker dead. Mr Bhattacharjee told reporters on Monday that the committee, whose only member and chair is home secretary Sourin Roy, has been directed to submit its report within 45 days.CPI(M)'s trade union wing, the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (Citu), however, refused to accept that the inquiry would be unbiased and "independent".
Citu president Niren Ghosh said Monday that an "eminent personality" should be asked to investigate the reasons leading to the violence. This is the second time in recent months Mr Ghosh disagreed with the chief minister's office publicly, the earlier one being on the issue of gherao. The police department has been asked to investigate the incident on the basis of the two cases already registered with them. 27 people have already been arrested in connection with the incident.
Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
