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Asansol stanpede case: Police arrests Bengal BJP leader Jitendra Tiwari
At least three, including a child, were killed and at least four others were injured in a stampede at a blanket donation program on December 14 last year
West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jitendra Tiwari was arrested from Delhi on Saturday in connection with a stampede case in which three people, including a child, lost their lives, officials said.
The stampede allegedly took took place during BJP’s blanket donation program in Asansol in December last year.
“Tiwari was arrested from Yamuna Expressway in Noida in connection with the stampede which killed three persons,” said a senior police officer of Asansol-Durgapur Police.
At least three, including a child, were killed and at least four others were injured in a stampede at a blanket donation program on December 14 last year.
The stampede took place minutes after BJP legislator and leader of the opposition in the state legislative assembly Suvendu Adhikari, who was present at the program, left the spot.
Also Read: Asansol stampede case: 6 arrested, police names BJP leader, wife in FIR
While police said that they didn’t give permission to organise the program, BJP leaders claimed they had informed the police. Jitendra Tiwari’s wife Chaitali Tiwari is the councillor of the civic ward where the program was organised.
“We initiated an FIR (first information report) based on a complaint lodged by one Sukhen Barui, whose mother Jhali Barui was killed in the stampede,” said another officer.
Jitendra Tiwari, a member of the BJP’s state executive committee, and his wife Chaitali Tiwari were named in the FIR and charged with sections 304(ii), 308 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Tiwari, the former mayor of the Trinamool Congress (TMC)-led Asansol civic body, joined the BJP in 2021 ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections.
