Although the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has summoned a bureaucrat and two police officials from West Bengal to New Delhi for explanation in connection with the rape and murder case of a minor girl at Kaliyaganj in West Bengal’s North Dinajpur district, it is unclear whether they will appear before the commission or not.

Sources from the state secretariat said that although they have heard about the commission sending the summons to the said officials, any decision on whether they will be appearing before it in the national capital will be taken by the highest administration of the state after reviewing the contents of the summons.

The three officers summoned by NCSC are: North Dinajpur district magistrate Arvind Kumar Mina, Superintendent superintendent of Police of the same district Sana Akhtar and the Inspector General of Police (north Bengal) DP Singh. They have been asked to appear at the commission’s office at New Delhi within seven days.

NCSC’s vice chairman Arun Halder has alleged that when the commission’s team visited the area where the tragic incident took place, the entire administration resorted to “non-cooperation” and hence the commission has decided to summon them to New Delhi and seek their explanation in the matter.

Already Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has expressed dissatisfaction over the commission’s team visiting Kaliyaganj and said the teams from different national panels are coming to the state even on minor incidents.

For the last few days tension is brewing in Kaliyaganj, and on Tuesday, pockets in the belt turned into virtual battlefields following clashes between the police forces and agitators protesting over the rape and murder of the minor girl.

Governor C. V. Ananda Bose has already sought a report from the state government on the matter.

Meanwhile on Thursday, Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha has sought a report from the state government on the case.

Justice Mantha also directed the state government to furnish a copy of the said report to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline.)