The charred bodies of seven people were recovered from a house in Bengal this morning.
The Centre has sought a report on the alleged political violence in Bengal's Birbhum in which eight people died. The BJP is also sending a fact-finding team to probe the biggest instance of violence since Mamata Banerjee's mega victory last year.
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A mob allegedly threw bombs in Bogtui village on the outskirts of Rampurhat town close to dawn on Tuesday, in which 10 houses were burnt. It is suspected to be a retaliation to the murder of a Trinamool Congress panchayat leader, Bhadu Sheikh, whose body was found on Monday.
The charred bodies of seven people, two of them children, were recovered from a house this morning. An eighth person died on way to the hospital. Eleven people have been arrested over the violence, the state police said.
A Special Investigation Team has been formed to probe the matter. Bengal's top cop Manoj Malaviya said, "We are investigating how the houses caught fire and whether the incident is related to the death of the panchayat deputy chief of neighbouring Barshal village".
A two-member Trinamool Congress delegation led by state minister Firhad Hakim is on way to Rampurhat to look into the issue. Two officers of the local police -- The Sub-Divisional Police Officer and Circle Inspector of Rampurhat -- have been removed.
A BJP team from Bengal met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday to seek his intervention. State party chief Sukanta Majumdar, who led the delegation, will be part of the fact-finding team formed by BJP chief JP Nadda. The team includes four former police officers.
The Trinamool Congress has denied any involvement in the violence. Party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, "We condemn the deaths that seem to have happened due to an accidental fire. It was our party leader who was killed last night".
The Chief Minister and Governor Jagdeep Dhankar, at loggerheads for years, have clashed over the issue. Mr Dhankhar has called the incident a "horrifying violence and arson orgy" and "indicative of nosediving of law and order in the state".
Ms Banerjee hit back with a letter. "It is highly improper to make sweeping and uncalled for statement instead of paving the way for impartial investigation," she wrote and requested the Governor to refrain from making "unwarranted statements".
The matter had ripples in the state assembly, where BJP leaders demanded a statement from the Chief Minister in the house. Twenty-two BJP legislators staged a walkout and party leader Suvendu Adhikari, in a series of tweets, urged the Centre to intervene.
Congress's leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury raised the issue in the House, saying such "horrific incidents of burning alive of women and children" are taking place in West Bengal.
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