The National Human Rights Commission has recommended a CBI probe into cases of post-poll violence that allegedly led to murders and rapes in Bengal and set up a special investigation team to probe other complaints.

Referring to the unrest that occurred after results of the Bengal Assembly elections were announced, NHRC observed that the "violence was neither sporadic nor random” and focussed on “targets” explained as supporters of the major Opposition party, the BJP.

“It is indeed ironical that in the land of Rabindranath Tagore, where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, where the world has not been broken into fragments by narrow domestic walls, thousands of its citizen have been subjected to murder, rape, displacement and intimidation, etc in the last couple of months… If the above mentioned worrisome trend is not arrested where the entire might of the government machinery has been used (through innumerable acts of omission and commission) for furthering the political objective of the party in power, the disease may spread to other states also,” the report stated in its conclusion.

The NHRC report, however, drew the wrath of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who has repeatedly dismissed reports of post-poll violence as exaggerated. She said that the panel was pursuing "political vendetta" of the BJP by leaking its findings to the media. She also expressed surprise over the NHRC committee arriving at conclusions without taking into account views of the state government.

The NHRC report on Bengal comes less than a week after Opposition allegations of violence and intimidation during the conduct of the panchayat elections in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh. The Opposition had alleged largescale intimidation of candidates who were not allowed to file nominations, kidnappings, threats, blackmail and attacks on women.

In Bengal, a five-member NHRC committee submitted a 50-page report to the Calcutta High Court. It has stated that the situation in the state (West Bengal) is a manifestation of "law of ruler" instead of "rule of law". The committee submitted it had 1,650 complaints from around 5,000 victims.

Cooch Behar, where five persons were killed on polling day, had the highest number of complaints at 322, followed by Birbhum with 314 and South 24-Parganas with 203. From Calcutta, the committee received 172 complaints.

There are 29 cases of murder, 12 rapes, 391 cases of grievous hurt and 940 cases of arson among others.

While recommending a CBI probe into the complaints of rape and murder, the commission has recommended that the cases be tried outside Bengal. For other cases it has recommended a court monitored SIT with provisions for fast-track courts, special public prosecutor and witness protection programmes.

The Supreme Court in 2018 had given its approval for a witness protection scheme and asked the state governments to implement it.

The committee members visited 311 spots in different parts of Bengal like Calcutta, East Midnapore, Howrah, East Burdwan, South 24-Parganas and Murshidabad within 20 days to prepare its report.

Though Mamata has repeatedly dismissed incidents of post-poll violence that happened after the election results were declared on May 2, the NHRC report states that the "scale of these incidents is widespread and extensive across the entire state" and this was the first time that the NHRC had conducted a probe of this magnitude.

The report states, despite seeking information on a number of related issues from the office of the director-general of police, the government had provided “piecemeal” and “incomplete” information. The NHRC committee observed the police had made a few arrests but did not investigate cases on priority basis.

“It is quite evident that the police is working under influence and in a biased manner and do not have the courage to take action against the looming goons of the ruling dispensation,” reads the report.

Out of the 311 spot enquiries, the committee observed the police had not recorded FIRs in as many as 188 instances.

The committee has also recommended actions against police officers who were found guilty of not performing their duty.