The BJP's national and state leadership on Wednesday cited a report by a fact-finding committee appointed by Calcutta High Court to claim that local Trinamool Congress leaders orchestrated the Samserganj violence and that the police failed to act against the rioters.

The BJP demanded that chief minister Mamata Banerjee apologise for "falsely" attributing the April 11 communal tension in the northern fringe of the state to "outsiders".

"Calcutta High Court formed a committee to investigate the Murshidabad violence. The committee's report was recently submitted to the court, and it exposed the involvement of a local TMC councillor and MLA in the violence. Mamata Banerjee, who had blamed outsiders, should apologise to the people of West Bengal, as the report proves her claim was entirely false," said state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, who is also a minister of state in the Narendra Modi government.

A high court source said the division bench of Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury — constituted by Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam on April 12 — had formed a three-member committee to investigate the Murshidabad violence, based on a petition by the leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.

The violence was reportedly triggered by a large protest against the Wakf (Amendment) Bill and continued until April 12, claiming the lives of a father-son duo, Haragobinda and Chandan Das, and devastating the livelihoods of over a hundred residents. One more person, Ejaz Ahmed, had died in alleged police firing.

The fact-finding committee comprised Joginder Singh (registrar, law, NHRC), Satya Arnab Ghosal (member-secretary, West Bengal Legal Services Authority), and Saugata Chakraborty (registrar, West Bengal Judicial Services), accompanied by a stenographer. They visited various areas of riot-hit Samserganj and recorded accounts from around 70 victims.

BJP leaders cited the report to assert that local TMC leaders not only orchestrated the violence but that criminals accompanied by local TMC councillor Mehboob Alam targeted Hindu lives and properties.

"Residents of Samserganj, Hisaltala, Shiulitala, Digri, they came masking up their faces. Local Councillor namely Mehboob Alam came with the miscreants on 11th April. MLA is also present on Friday (April 11), he saw the vandalism and went away. But the violence continued on 12th April, 2025, Saturday," the report reads.

Alam is a former chairman of Dhulian municipality.

Alam and Samserganj MLA Amirul Islam denied the allegations.

“It is the Internet era; anyone can verify my location on that day. After my Friday prayers, I had lunch and was at home. CCTV footage will confirm this. The allegations are completely false,” said Alam.

“Does anyone set fire to his own house? Why would I instigate violence in my own constituency? No one will believe this,” said MLA Islam.

In addition to the alleged involvement of TMC leaders, BJP leaders highlighted what they called police inaction, also detailed in the committee's report.

"The West Bengal Police did not respond. The villager of Betbona called at 4 p.m. on Friday and 4 p.m on Saturday but police did not pick up the call," reads the report claiming that 113 houses were affected badly in Betbona village and majority of residences had taken shelter in Malda but all of them have been forced to return by the police administration." added the report.

BJP national spokesperson and MP Sudhanshu Trivedi, speaking at a news meet in Delhi, linked the Murshidabad incident with the recent terror attack in Pahalgam.

“If Hindus were selectively targeted in Pahalgam, the same pattern was followed in Murshidabad, where Hindu homes were selectively destroyed and lives threatened. It was premeditated violence orchestrated by TMC leaders,” Trivedi said.

TMC leaders accused the BJP of distorting the committee's findings and spreading misinformation about the Murshidabad incident.

“We will respond to their claims or distortions with that particular report. The state government has already provided compensation to victims and ensured the arrest of those involved. A probe into the role of outsiders, including those from the other side of the international border, is ongoing. While TMC has acted responsibly in the Operation Sindoor issue and our general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has been accompanying the foreign representation team, the BJP is engaging in petty and divisive politics over the Murshidabad issue,” said TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh.

Additional reporting by Alamgir Hossain