Kolkata, April 4 – Intelligence agencies, both central and state, including members of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) team, are investigating the incident of harassment of judicial officers in Kaliachak, Malda district of West Bengal. They are trying to trace the overseas connections of the arrested mastermind in the case, Mofakkarul Islam, and his close associate and YouTuber, Akramul Bagani, sources said on Saturday.
Both Islam and Bagani were arrested at Bagdogra Airport by officers of the West Bengal Police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Friday while they were attempting to flee the state.
Sources said that since the arrest of Islam and Bagani on Friday morning, social media has been flooded with posts expressing support for them, many of which are from abroad. This prompted the intelligence agencies to track the overseas connections and activities of the two accused, especially Islam.
The social media accounts of certain other YouTubers and Bagani's social media influencers, who have also posted in support of the arrests, are also being examined by the intelligence agencies.
Meanwhile, the members of the NIA investigation team have already collected CCTV footage related to the incident of seven judicial officers, including three women, being held hostage at Kaliachak on Wednesday night from the local Mothabari Police station. The investigating officials are currently examining the footage.
They are particularly focusing on the video footage where Islam is seen and heard standing on the roof of a vehicle and giving highly provocative messages to the crowd protesting against the alleged deletion of their names from the voter list during the judicial proceedings.
The members of the NIA team have also collected CCTV footage of the road blockades at various locations in Kaliachak on the same day.
Earlier this week, a division bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to hand over the investigation in this matter either to the NIA or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Later, the ECI decided to hand over the investigation to the NIA.