Calcutta High Court’s circuit bench on Thursday ordered a CBI probe into the death of a 17-year-old boy at a shelter run by the state government here in December last year.

The division bench of Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Justice Rai Chattopadhyay has asked the central agency to start the investigation within 48 hours and submit a report to the court next month.

A 17-year-old boy from theCooch Behar district had been arrested in a narcotics case in December 2022. He was produced before the juvenile justice board and sent to Korok, a home for destitute and juvenile boys at Racecourse para in Jalpaiguri.

On December 15, the boy was found hanging in a room at the home. Police handed over the body to the boy’s family after a post-mortem.

The boy’s family members, however, said they felt that he had been murdered and the body hanged. “There were marks of injuries and a bite on the body. We suspect he was tortured,” said one of his relatives.

This made the boy’s mother file a petition in the high court.

“The court heard the case today and ordered a CBI investigation. It has also been mentioned that if required, the CBI can exhume his body and conduct a post-mortem again. The agency will have to submit its report to the court by March 13,” said Suman Sehanbish, the lawyer who represented the boy’s mother.

The boy’s mother, who was present in the court, said she wanted to know the truth.