Kolkata: Bowing to the demand of junior Left Front partners, the West Bengal Government today ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident in which five activists of Forward Bloc, a partner in the ruling coalition, were killed in Cooch Behar district on February five.

"A judicial inquiry has been ordered into the incident. The terms of reference and the name of the judge will be announced later," Chief Secretary Amit Kiran Deb told PTI.

The announcement came five days after the incident. The trouble erupted when a large number of Forward Bloc supporters tried to submit a memorandum to the SDO, Dinhata, as part of its statewide demonstration in protest against corruption and maladministration in panchayats, majority of which are run by Front leader CPI(M).

Three Left Front partners -- Forward Bloc, RSP and CPI leaders -- who condemned the firing, held a meeting on February eight and together demanded a judicial probe and punishment to all the officials involved in the incident.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had earlier ordered a magisterial inquiry. The Dinhata killing has strengthened anti-CPI(M) sentiments among the Left Front partners, FB and RSP, who have accused the Marxist party of running the nine-party LF unilaterally, ignoring the allies on major policy matters.

The FB and RSP have been spearheading a campaign against setting up of SEZs, industrialisation on farmland displacing farmers and entry of big business in retail.

Source : PTI