Justice Jay Sengupta of Calcutta High Court on Tuesday expressed his displeasure on hearing that even after his order, some officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation did not appear before state agency CID to assist the latter in its ongoing probe into the Lalon Sheikh custodial death case.

The judge asked CBI officers to appear virtually for the interrogation into the Lalon death case on February 8.

The judge also asked the CID to issue a fresh notice asking the CBI officers to appear virtually for interrogation on February 8.

The judge then fixed the matter for hearing again on February 9.

Justice Sengupta was hearing a plea by the CBI seeking an order for the quashing of the proceedings drawn up against it by CID in the Lalon death case.

Through an earlier order, the judge had given liberty to the CID to continue its investigation into the custodial death but restrained it from taking any coercive measures against the CBI officials till further orders.

Soon after the hearing in the case resumed on Tuesday, the counsel for the state government informed the court that some CBI officers did not respond to a CID’s call to appear for interrogation on January 8.

“Only two CBI officers were present,” the lawyer said. The CBI counsel claimed that a constable could not appear for interrogation as he was ill.

The judge then delivered the order.

Lalon, who was one of the prime accused in Birbhum’s Bogtui carnage that led to the deaths of 10 persons on March 21 last year, was arrested by the CBI on December 4 from a hideout in neighbouring Jharkhand’s Pakur district.

Lalon was found dead in CBI custody in the bathroom of the central agency’s Rampurhat camp office on December 12.

The CBI had claimed death by suicide but Lalon’s family members had alleged he was tortured and murdered.

Following an FIR by Lalon’s wife Reshma Biwi, the CID started a probe accusing a few CBI officers of murdering her husband.