Judicial Officers Held Hostage for Over Nine Hours in Malda Amid Voter List Row

The officers, including three women, were gheraoed at Kaliachak in Malda yesterday afternoon. Around 1 am today, a massive contingent of police and paramilitary personnel removed the protesters, rescued the judicial officers, and moved them to a safe location.

Judicial officers are racing against time to complete the adjudication exercise ahead of the polling in Bengal on April 23 and 29. In Malda, a massive protest broke out yesterday after the names of several people were struck off the voter list. A group of voters started protesting and held the judicial officers hostage for hours.

According to reports, there was an attempt to attack the vehicles when the judicial officers were being evacuated. Visuals show a car's shattered window glass. Visuals showed angry protesters hurling stones at the vehicles as the cops escorted the judicial officers to safety. The Election Commission has asked the Director General of West Bengal Police to submit a report on the incident in Malda.

Union Minister and former Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar alleged that the harassment faced by the judicial officers is a result of "provocative statements" by the Trinamool Congress leadership against the Election Commission over the SIR row.

"SIR is a pan-India exercise. Such chaos over the exercise is not there in any other state, including opposition-ruled states. West Bengal has been the only exception because the ruling party and the state administration have been attempting to disturb the exercise since the beginning," he said.

The ruling Trinamool Congress said that with the model code of conduct in force, ensuring the security of judicial officers is the responsibility of the Election Commission.

Kunal Ghosh, Trinamool Congress general secretary and its candidate from Beleghata Assembly constituency, said his party does not believe in taking the law into its own hands.

"We, on behalf of Trinamool, want to clearly say that the entire responsibility for this incident lies with the ECI. We also want to say that Trinamool Congress does not support any attempt to take the law into its own hands. We are protesting against this mass deletion of voters' names, but without creating any chaos," he said.

The incident underscores escalating tensions surrounding the voter list revision process in West Bengal, raising serious concerns over law and order, administrative accountability, and the security of officials engaged in critical election duties.