The Supreme Court of India has stated that the gherao of seven judicial officers in Malda, West Bengal, was a pre-planned act and has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to investigate the incident, citing a lack of trust in local police. The officers were held for hours by a mob protesting the deletion of names from the electoral roll amid the upcoming elections. The court ordered that 26 individuals arrested by West Bengal police be interrogated by the NIA. This incident has intensified political conflict between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) party, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Banerjee accused the BJP of conspiring to disrupt the elections and warned against taking the law into their own hands. In response, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the TMC government, labeling the situation as a sign of “maha jungle raj” and asserting that democracy is suffering in West Bengal. Malda, a Muslim-majority district, has a significant number of judicial cases pending, making the incident particularly concerning.