Sil at the subdivisional office. (Main Uddin Chisti)

Cooch Behar, April 18: Retired high court judge Narayan Chandra Sil, who heads the one-man committee probing the police firing in Dinhata on February 5 that killed five Forward Bloc supporters, arrived here today to inspect the site of the incident.

“I have been given six months to submit the report but that will not be possible. I will issue a notification after the panchayat polls, calling witnesses for the hearing,” the judge said.

Sil said keeping in mind the distance of Dinhata from Calcutta, he would conduct the hearings at the circuit house here.

The former judge arrived at the subdivisional office in Dinhata at 10am. He asked subdivisional officer Debabrata Chakrabarty to show him the spot in front of the office where the trouble broke out. He inspected the subdivisional office premises for 15 minutes before talking to reporters.

“Today I inspected the spot where the firing had taken place. Later, I will start gathering evidence,” Sil said.

On February 5, a law-violation programme of the Bloc to press for the implementation of a charter of demands, turned violent. When the crowds broke through the police barricades in front of the Dinhata subdivision office, the police opened fire killing five Bloc supporters. One National Volunteer Force personnel died after being severely beaten up by the mob.

Sil visited the spot nearly 10 weeks after the incident. “I will need to talk to the media as well in order to get a clear picture. I hope everyone will cooperate,” the judge said.