Malda/Kolkata: NIA recorded the statement of one of the judicial officers held hostage at the Kaliachak-II BDO office on April 1 and secured two weeks of police custody of main accused Mofakkerul Islam on Saturday. Sources said questioning has led to the detention of three more people, though no fresh arrests were confirmed by late evening.The agency’s teams visited multiple locations through the day — beginning at the Kaliachak-II BDO office, then Mothabari police station and later the SP’s office.Investigators are trying to establish whether the attack on the judicial officers’ convoy was premeditated, probing the identities of those who assembled outside the BDO office and set up barricades on the highway where the convoy was ambushed and stoned.“They wanted to know the identity of officers posted inside and outside the BDO office and the steps taken when it became clear a mob had gathered,” said a Malda police source.The NIA will also record the statement of Ramprasad Mandal, driver of the pilot car, who was injured in the attack and remains hospitalised. Both statements will form part of the agency’s report to the Supreme Court on Monday.The Malda district administration on Saturday denied receiving a letter from judicial officers about security concerns ahead of the supplementary voter list’s publication, calling reports of such a communication “factually incorrect.”Sources said Islam spent the night of April 1 in Mothabari before leaving for Bagdogra airport early the next morning. Villagers claimed he was not present at the Kaliachak-II BDO office and had only addressed the crowd at Sujapur, where Trinamool’s Sabina Yeasmin and Congress candidate Abdul Hannan had also spoken.
