Wajahat Habibullah (centre) at Bhajanpur village in Araria on Tuesday. Picture by Mohan Mahato

Araria, June 21: The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has said there is no need for a CBI inquiry into the Forbesganj firing in the “present circumstances”.

This was stated by commission chairman Wajahat Habibullah, who led a team today to Bhajanpur village of Araria district, around 250km east of Patna.

On June 3, police had opened fire on a group of protesters in the village, killing four persons. The local people were protesting against the setting up of a glucose manufacturing unit, which had led to the closure of the roads being used by them.

The minorities’ panel and the National Human Rights Commission took suo motu cognizance of the incident leading to today’s visit by Habibullah and NCM member Syeda Bilgrami. Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad and Lok Janshakti Party MLA from Araria Zakir Anwar also accompanied the team.

The team members stayed in Bhajanpur for around one-and-a-half hours and talked to the families of those killed or injured.

The negation of a CBI probe would be a big disappointment for the Opposition parties in Bihar, which want to put the government on the mat. The government has recommended a judicial inquiry into the case.

A source present during today’s interaction said Habibullah took pains to ensure the incident didn’t take on communal dimensions. The retired IAS officer said those killed in the incident were citizens of India and their religion was incidental.

Habibullah is likely to meet chief minister Nitish Kumar tomorrow. “The commission will submit its report within a week,” he said.

Araria superintendent of police Garima Mallik and Forbesganj sub-divisional officer G.D. Singh, under fire over the flare-up, didn’t enter the village.