By IANS
Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya Tuesday said the guilty in the killing of Singur girl Tapasi Malik would be punished irrespective of his party affiliation.
"We would want law to take its course in this case and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to reach its logical conclusion soon. The guilty should be punished irrespective of party affiliation," Bhattacharya told reporters at state secretariat Writers Buildings.
"I accepted a CBI inquiry when the incident occurred. A man was arrested and was interrogated by CBI. We want a proper probe and truth to come out. I am not concerned about the political party the arrested person supports. I think CBI is taking too much time to finish the probe," Bhattacharya said.
The investigating agency has arrested Debu Malik of Singur, a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) worker, as a prime accused in the death of 18-year-old Tapasi Malik, whose charred body was recovered Dec 18 from the area fenced off for the upcoming Tata Motors small car plant.
The ruling CPI-M has, however, been quick to identify Debu as a supporter and not a party member.
Debu was produced before a Delhi court Sunday for allegedly killing Tapasi, a member of the anti-land acquisition group Singur Krishijami Raksha Committee (Save Farmland Committee), and then burning her body inside the fenced off area, about 40 km from Kolkata in Hooghly district. Her family had lost their land to the project.
"While in New Delhi I had personally requested the CBI to look into the case," Bhattacharya said.
The Trinamool Congress campaign against the Tata Motors project at Singur has got a boost with the arrest of the CPI-M man and party chief Mamata Banerjee Monday lambasted the ruling party on the issue.
On Dec 18 last year, Tapasi's burnt body was found on the land fenced off for the car project. She was allegedly raped before her killing. Debu was in charge of the guards protecting the boundary wall in Singur at night.
Debu will be produced in Chandannagore court in Hooghly in a few days as the CBI would bring him back from New Delhi where he was taken for lie detector test. The CBI has got a transit remand of Debu.
Over 997 acres of land in Singur have been chosen by Tata Motors for its small car project. The issue has triggered a violent face-off between the government and farmers led by civil society groups and parties like the Trinamool Congress.