Kolkata, May 26 (IANS) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested 15 more accused in connection with the April 1 incident in which seven judicial officers were held hostage during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) phase at Mothabari in the minority-dominated Malda district of West Bengal.

According to sources, the arrests of these 15 accused took place following a massive raid and search operations by NIA sleuths in different locations in Malda district that started on Monday night and continued till Tuesday morning.

The accused 15 were identified based on CCTV footage at Mothabari on the night of April 1, when the judicial officers engaged in the SIR process were attacked. The 15 accused will be presented in a special court of the NIA in Kolkata on Tuesday.

With the arrests of 15 more accused, the total number of arrests in the case rises to 65.

These 15 were arrested from the Mothabari and Kaliachak areas in Malda district, sources said.

These judicial officers were appointed by the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court and were working to dispose of the names on the judicial adjudication list under consideration by the SIR.

To recall, on April 1 this year, the judicial officers posted at Mothabari were surrounded by a group of violent protesters protesting against the SIR exercise. They kept the judicial officers hostage at the Kaliachak-2 block office till late at night.

Seven judicial officers were detained. There were also allegations of harassment against them. It was alleged that a section of those whose names were omitted from the SIR list led the protests.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) handed over the investigation of the incident to the NIA on the order of the Supreme Court.

However, before that, the CID of the state police arrested one of the accused in the case, Mofakkerul Islam, an advocate by profession.

The CID claimed in court that Islam was one of the masterminds of this protest programme. Soon after, NIA took over the investigation and started identifying and arresting the accused persons one after another.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court directed the NIA to wind up the investigation in the matter at the earliest. The Chief Justice of India, Surya Kanta, ordered that security arrangements for the judicial officers involved in the SIR exercise would remain as they are, till further orders.

The NIA submitted its status report on the investigation in the matter to the apex court on May 11.

–IANS

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