The police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has been ordered to probe the deadly police firing, lootings and arson attacks in 2016 on ethnic Santals in Gaibandha's Gobindaganj Upazila.
The order by the court of Gaibandha's senior judicial magistrate came on Monday (Dec 23) after concluding the hearing of a no-confidence petition against the chargesheet filed by the Police Bureau of Investigation in July this year.
On Sep 4, plaintiff Thomas Hembrom moved the court against the chargesheet.
"A no-confidence motion was filed as the PIB's chargesheet excluded the 11 prime suspects. The court has ordered the CID for a further probe," said plaintiff's counsel Sirajul Islam Babu.
After two and half years of the 2016 attack, the PBI on Jul 28 this year charged 90 people in the court.
Santals in Gaibandha immediately rejected the chargesheet and took the streets protesting against the exclusion of former MP Abul Kalam Azad and some other key suspects named in the case started by plaintiff Thomas Hembrom.
Police charged in court 90 people, including Gobindaganj's Sapmara Union Parishad Chairman Bulbul Ahmed, UP members Shah Alam and Ayub Ali, and Rangpur Sugar Mill’s General Manager (finance) Nazmul Huda.
In 1962, the Rangpur Sugar Mill acquired 1,840 acres of land in 18 villages occupied by the indigenous community and Bangalees for sugar cane farming.
But several years back, the Santals started protests to get their land back claiming the authorities leased it out for paddy and tobacco farming in violation of the acquisition contract.
In 2016, some of the Santals built houses in an effort to occupy 100 acres of land lost to sugarcane farming and they started roaming about the area with weapons such as bows and arrows.
On Nov 6 that year, the sugar mill's employees and police clashed with the Santals over the acquired land. Three Santals were killed and scores injured.
Hundreds of Santal homesteads were looted and set on fire. After that, the sugar mill management used tractors to clear the land.