New Delhi, April 7 -- The Supreme Court on Monday directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe into the incident of mob violence in West Bengal's Malda district, where seven judicial officers were held hostage for eight hours, during a protest against the removal of names in the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The court further took a dig at the state chief secretary for being "obstinate" in not being accessible to the high court chief justice on the day of the incident, that also involved threat and assault against the officers.

Days after the top court took suo motu cognisance of the April 1 violence, the NIA informed a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant that based on the prelimin...