Kolkata: CPM youth leader held for allegedly conspiring to attack striking medics

The arrest came after TMC released an audio clip on Friday alleging that a conspiracy was being hatched to attack the junior doctors in Salt Lake and to malign the ruling party in the state

Two persons, including a Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) youth wing leader, were arrested on charges of hatching a conspiracy to attack striking junior medics who have bene holding a sit-in outside Swasthya Bhavan in Salt Lake. The arrest came after Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh released an audio clip on Friday alleging that a conspiracy was being hatched to attack the junior doctors in Salt Lake so that the ruling party in the state could be maligned.

Members of the Junior Doctors Forum block a road leading to the West Bengal Health Headquarters during their protest against the rape and murder of a resident doctor at a government hospital in early August, in Kolkata on Friday. (AP)

“We arrested one Sanjib Das from Haltu in south Kolkata on Friday. During preliminary interrogation he confessed that it was his voice in the audio-clip. Kalatan Dasgupta was arrested today. They will be produced in the court today,” said an IPS officer of Bidhannagar city police.

Dasgupta is a leader of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the CPI(M).

“It is a dangerous conspiracy to malign the chief minister, the TMC and the government. A conspiracy has been hatched since Thursday night to attack the protesting doctors so that the situation may become more complex,” Ghosh had told media persons.

Officials said that the technical analysis and investigative wings of the Bidhannagar Police have checked the authenticity of the clip. Police said that during further interrogation they will collect the accused persons’ voice samples and match them with the audio clip.

In the clip two people could be purportedly discussing a plan to launch an attack on the protest venue at Salt Lake. Police on Saturday shared the 12-minute clip.

One person could be heard reportedly telling: “Saheb has ordered to attack Salt Lake.”

“I have done these things all these years, but I have never felt afraid. But this time it is hitting my conscience. Will it be the right thing to do?” said the other person over the phone.

“You have not been asked to fight to finish,” said the first man.

“The boys would be drunk. What if it goes out of control?” said the other person.

“Police should have first taken Kunal Ghosh into custody to question him as to where did he get the audio from and who made the clip. He knows everything. We doubt whether police would be able to do an impartial probe,” Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, senior high court advocate and CPI(M) leader, told the media.

“We have come across a few other names in the audio clip such as Saheb, Bappa and Dadu. We are trying to identify them and the roles they played,” the IPS officer said.

Sleuths said that the audio-clip was recorded on September 12 around the time when a team of the striking medics had gone to Nabanna, the state secretariat, to hold a meeting with the chief minister. The talks, however, failed to take off.

The duo hase been booked under sections 224 (threat of injury to public servant), 352 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 353 (2) (spreading false information), 351 (1) (criminal intimidation) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.

Asked whether Das has any political links, police said: “We have got some names from his mobile phone. We are verifying further.”