Kolkata: An NIA court in Kolkata on Thursday rejected the bail pleas of 52 accused in Malda’s Mothabari case and ordered that all of them, including main accused Mofakkarul Islam, remain in judicial custody till May 13.The case relates to the alleged confinement and harassment of officials engaged in Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of poll rolls. On April 1, seven judicial officers assigned to the exercise were allegedly kept confined inside Kaliachak-II block office until midnight by an agitated mob.It was alleged that some people whose names were left out of the list surrounded and intimidated the officers. The matter later reached the Supreme Court.The NIA court accepted the agency’s submission opposing the petitions and denied bail in all 12 connected cases arising from the incident.NIA counsel Shyamal Ghosh said hearings were held in 12 cases and judicial custody was ordered in each of them. He added that investigating officers were trying to file the final report as early as possible.The Election Commission had earlier handed over the probe to the NIA following a court directive. Before NIA formally took over the investigation, Mofakkarul was arrested by the state CID.
