NHRC sends Sandeshkhali probe report to Bengal govt, seeks action-taken report.

On Friday, NHRC sent the inquiry report to the state government and the state police, directing them to file their action-taken reports within 8 weeks.An inquiry by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) into the Sandeshkhali violence in West Bengal has revealed multiple human rights concerns over the last few years including sexual exploitation, land grabbing, denial of the right to vote and “a kind of forced migration”. On Friday, NHRC decided to send the inquiry report to the state government and the state police, directing them to file their action-taken reports on the 12 recommendations within eight weeks. The commission, which had taken suo motu cognisance of media reports on the violence in February, also decided to approach the Calcutta high court to intervene in the court proceedings “since NHRC was also inquiring into the complaints of violation of human rights of the victims and its spot enquiry report reveals several instances of atrocities inflicted upon the victims which clearly demonstrate, prima facie, there was violation of human rights due to negligence in prevention of such violation or abatement thereof by the public servant.” The commission’s decision comes after the high court on Wednesday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe all allegations levelled by residents of Sandeshkhali since February, and said it will monitor the process. NHRC has sent a copy of its report to the CBI as well. The report also said when the residents complained to the police, they were told to approach the accused including the Trinamool Congress (TMC) strongman Sheikh Shahjahan, who was arrested by the state police on February 29 after being on the run for 55 days. and seek a compromise. HT has reviewed the report. The riverine island of Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district has been in the eye of the storm since January 5, when Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers arrived to search the home of Shahjahan, a close aide of former minister Jyoti Priya Mallick, who was arrested in October last year in connection with an alleged ration distribution scam. The ED team came under attack, leaving three officers injured.