From the 2021 post-election violence in West Bengal to the 2024 R G Kar Medical College rape and murder, and the 2025 death of a schoolgirl in a bomb blast, the BJP government in West Bengal has reopened several old cases in the state. It has also hinted that it is just the start, with several high-profile cases on its radar, calling it dismantling of “years of cover-ups under the previous regime”.
In a statement recently, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said: “Under the previous regime, culprits were distinguished by their political affiliations and police action was heavily influenced by the political identity of the victims. Our government operates differently.” It is a change from “law of the ruler” to “rule of the law”, he said.
One of the first decisions of the Adhikari government was a comprehensive review of all cases of violence linked to the 2021 Assembly elections, which were swept by the Trinamool Congress.
The CM held a meeting with ADG, Law and Order, Ajay Ranade, after which the government directed all police superintendents and commissioners to meticulously re-examine past investigations, reopen 2021 cases where there were “investigative lapses”, and to register fresh cases where preliminary inquiries revealed unaddressed cognizable offences.
Police officers said they have launched at least 458 new inquiries into the 2021 violence since, besides registering 181 fresh FIRs and reopening 59 cases. Around 170 fresh cases have been registered in Birbhum alone, a district known for its illegal sand-mining and stone-mining syndicates and political violence. These include cases of murder, attempt to murder, threats and assault.
In 2022, Bogtui in Birbhum district was the site of another episode of political violence when a mob set fire to several houses following the murder of a local TMC leader, burning several women and children alive. Last month, the CBI arrested Rohan Sheikh alias Kismot Sheikh, who had been absconding in the case, from Kolkata.
A senior police officer of Birbhum, who did not want to be identified, told The Indian Express: “In the 2021 post-poll violence, around 170 cases have been registered and 175 arrests made. Around a hundred cases have been registered and more than 70 arrests made in connection with illegal mining alone.”
Asked about the opening of old cases by the BJP government, TMC spokesperson Pradipta Mukherjee said, “It is less about serving justice and more about targeting the Opposition. If the BJP is truly serious about this, why is (former sports minister) Aroop Biswas moving freely in the Messi (visit fiasco) case? Is it because he joined the refugee (rebel) camp?… Abhishek Banerjee is being called (for questioning) in the DJ (remarks) case, but no action has been taken against Sayoni Ghosh or Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who spoke on the same lines during the poll campaign (both are in the rebel camp).”
Mukherjee also asked why the same interest is not being shown in other cases, listing the 2018 panchayat polls violence. It was because many leaders behind it who were then in the TMC “are on key posts in the BJP government now”, he said.
In the 2025 case of the killing of a 13-year-old, Tamanna Khatun, in Nadia, when a bomb hurled during a TMC victory procession following a bypoll went off, 13 additional arrests have been made, across Haryana and Maharashtra. Adhikari announced on June 27 that almost all the accused named in the case had now been apprehended.
At the time of Tamanna’s death, police had blamed it on a clash between two local rival groups, and arrested 11 people. However, the BJP called it a targeted political crime, with the victim’s family being supporters of the CPI(M).
The 13 fresh arrests were made by the West Bengal Police from Gurgaon and Nagpur, in a three-day sweep, soon after Tamanna’s mother Sabina Yasmin met Adhikari at the state Assembly. Yasmin told The Indian Express: “Many directly involved in the case had been roaming free… I had lost all hope.”
Atul V, Superintendent of Police, Krishnanagar Police District, said that they have also changed the Special Public Prosecutor in the case.
The August 2024 R G Kar Medical College rape and murder case has also been reopened, with Adhikari citing widespread public concern over “evidence tampering” and “institutional suppression” during the initial probe as the reason for the decision. Three IPS officers who were in senior positions then – Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal, Deputy Commissioner (North Division) Abhishek Gupta, and Deputy Commissioner (Central Division) Indira Mukherjee – were suspended and departmental inquiries ordered against them.
A BJP leader said: “The government is currently operating on two distinct fronts regarding the R G Kar aftermath. It is trying to withdraw harassment-driven police cases against citizens or doctors who participated in the protests. And it intends to prosecute those who vandalized the medical college on August 14, 2024, in a bid to destroy crime scene evidence.”
The mother of the R G Kar victim, now a BJP MLA, said the administrative transition represents a crucial step towards accountability, and said she hoped full justice would be done. Said BJP leader Ratna Debnath: “The new government has come and its intention is very clear, that not only the R G Kar victim, every woman who has suffered such things will get justice.”
