The High Court (HC) will pass its order on February 7 on a judicial probe report that found policemen and locals guilty of setting fire to homes of Santals during the eviction drive in Gobindaganj upazila of Gaibandha on November last year. The HC bench comprising Justice Obaidul Hasan and Justice Krishna Devnath fixed the date yesterday after accepting a probe report over the incident prepared by chief judicial magistrate of Gaibandha.
The HC bench asked the officials concerned of the district court to supply a copy of the investigation report to the writ petitioner by February 5, who had sought necessary order over the incident.
Gaibandha Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohammad Shahidullah, who has conducted the inquiry, submitted the 65-page probe report along with 1,001-page relevant papers to the Supreme Court Registrar General's office on Sunday for placing it to the High Court. Deputy Attorney General Motahar Hossain Sazu placed the probe report before the HC yesterday for necessary order.
According to the probe report, some members of law enforcement agencies and local people were involved in setting fire to Santal houses during the eviction drive in Gobindaganj.
It was seen in a video footage of the incident broadcast by Doha-based news channel Al Jazeera, that some policemen and two civilians actively set fire to Santal houses during the eviction drive. Men in uniform were also seen in the vicinity, but they did not try to douse the fire, the report added.   It was found from witness statements that the Santals had left ‘Chamgari Bill’ and ‘Kuarmara’ and taken shelter in Madarpur and Joypur villages to save their lives. Hence, they could not identify members of law enforcement agencies and local culprits who committed the crime of burning the houses, the report noted.   
On December 14, the HC directed the chief judicial magistrate of Gaibandha to investigate and identify those involved in setting fire to Santal houses following an eviction drive on November 6.
The court also directed the magistrate to investigate whether the police were involved in the arson attack and submit the investigation report within 15 days.
On November 6, a clash had ensued among indigenous Santal people, workers of Rangpur Sugar Mills and police, following an attempt by the mill workers to evict the Santals from the mill area. This left three Santals dead, 20 injured and several hundreds homeless.