Calcutta's High Court on Thursday ordered a federal National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigation into the violence which occurred during the Ram Navami festival in India's West Bengal state.
The court's decision came after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politician and leader of the opposition in West Bengal's State Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, presented a petition in the High Court on 31 March calling for an inquiry.
Ordering the West Bengal state police to transfer the investigation to the federal agency, the court also directed the police to transfer all records and CCTV footage to the federal government within two weeks so that the anti-terror investigation agency could take charge of the probe.
Clashes in West Bengal During Ram Navami
On 30 March, stones were thrown, several vehicles were torched and shops were ransacked during the violence on the festive occasion of Ram Navami - considered the holiest day in the Hindu calendar.
Soon after the clashes, Section 144 (prohibiting public gathering) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was imposed in the areas where violence broke out. The state police also conducted a flag march.
Later, Trinamool Congress - the party which is in power in West Bengal - and the BJP, which leads the opposition, descended into a slanging match where each accused the other of inciting violence.
Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal state chief Mamata Banerjee claimed that the violence was drummed up by the BJP, whereas the BJP accused the state government of providing security only to Muslims.