India, April 2 -- The Election Commission of India on Thursday handed over the probe into the a mob picketing judicial officers in West Bengal's Malda district to the NIA, following a Supreme Court directive.

The development comes after a mob in Malda surrounded a group of seven judicial officers, including three women, during an SIR exercise in Malda around 4 pm. The workers were confined for over eight hours by a group of protesters at a BDO office, following which they were rescued around midnight.

In an April 2 letter to the central agency, the EC referred to the apex court's order and directed it to probe the Wednesday incident. An ECI spokesperson said an NIA team would be in the poll-bound state on Friday.

Earlier in the day, th...