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‘Horrifying incidents...’: Guv summons Mamata Banerjee to discuss law and order
The ruling Trinamool Congress claimed that the law-and-order situation in West Bengal is better than most states.
KOLKATA: West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday invited chief minister Mamata Banerjee to Raj Bavan this week to disucss the law-and-order issue in the state even as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) continued with its probe into the March 21 Birbhum massacre in which nine persons, mostly women and children, were killed in Rampurhat.
“Recent alarming worrisome developments reflecting increased lawlessness and violence, make it imperative that you spare time earliest for an interaction at Raj Bhavan. Already cliff hanging governance in the state, from the perspective of Constitution and law, has recently been further strained by horrifying incidents of barbarity Rampurhat and in the hallowed precincts of the Assembly,” Dhankhar wrote in his letter.
Banerjee, who is presently camping in Darjeeling, said on Monday that the Trinamool Congress (TMC)-led government in West Bengal will cooperate with the central agency but warned that if CBI does something at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party will hit the streets in protest.
“I am concerned at your public statement ‘to hit the streets in protest’ if the CBI probe is not in tune with your thought process since the same is not in sync with the position you adorn. Please bear in mind the investigation by CBI in the horrific barbarity at Rampurhat is ordered and monitored by the Calcutta high court. Any recourse thereof has to be lawful and not on the streets,” the governor’s letter said.
The governor’s letter was sent a day after five BJP legislators, including leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari, were suspended from the West Bengal Legislative Assembly for the remaining sessions of 2022 after a fight broke out in the house between the TMC and BJP MLAs.
“The governor is playing the role of a BJP representative. The law-and-order situation in West Bengal is better than most states. The chief minister has taken stern actions against whatever stray incidents have taken place. The governor knows that the BJP has lost its public support and is hence trying to find out issues to malign the government,” said Kunal Ghosh, state TMC spokesperson.
“CBI is probing on the orders of the high court. BJP has nothing to do with this,” said Samik Bhattacharya, BJP spokesperson.
BJP lawmakers had demanded a statement from the chief minister in the assembly and a discussion in the House over the Birbhum massacre. A few MLAs of both the parties were injured.
While the BJP claimed that the party’s chief whip in the assembly had suffered a fracture in his ribs and would be shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, the TMC has called it a lie.
“@BJP4India always tells lie. @DrSukantaBJP demands there is rib fracture of @ManojTigga. As practising Radiologist I do confirm there is no fracture. DMS, Apollo, Retd Lt. Gen. Dr S. Bhatia saw him personally & said admission not needed. Intention of hooliganism unveiled,” tweeted Santanu Sen, TMC MP and former president of Indian Medical Association.
The BJP, however, refuted the allegations. Union minister of state for education Subhas Sarkar, a gynaecologist and a board member of AIIMS in Kalyani said: “I have seen the X-Ray plates. Tigga has suffered a fracture in the sixth rib.”
Meanwhile, CBI on Tuesday questioned the former inspector-in-charge of Rampurhat police station Trideep Pramanik in connection with the killings. Pramanik has been suspended by the Mamata Banerjee administration for alleged negligence. The former SDPO of Rampurhat Shayan Ahmed who was questioned by the federal agency sleuths was questioned for the second time on Tuesday.
Mihilal Sheikh, whose relative Sanju Sheikh’s home was set on fire, was also questioned for the second time on Tuesday. Mihilal had fled to a village in the Sainthia area for safety that night. On Tuesday he was taken to the house Sheikhlal Sheikh, who lost his wife Najma Bibi.
