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Received threat on phone to get bail for party strongman: TMC MP Saugata Roy
Jaynanta Singh, a TMC strongman from the Ariadaha area in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, was arrested by the police last week in connection with the June 30 violence
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saugata Roy said he received a death threat over the phone in which the caller asked him to ensure the bail of arrested TMC strongman Jayanta Singh or he would be shot dead, according to people aware of the matter.
“I received a threat call around 3am on Tuesday. The caller said that if I did not ensure bail for Jayanta Singh, I would be shot dead…” Roy told media persons on Wednesday.
“I have already informed the police commissioner. The caller is yet to be traced,” said Roy, an MP from Dum Dum constituency.
“Investigation is going on. No one has been arrested so far,” said an officer of Barrackpore police.
Officials aware of the matter said that Singh, a TMC strongman from the Ariadaha area in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, was arrested by the police last week in connection with the June 30 violence in which a teenage boy and his mother were allegedly assaulted at Ariadaha in North 24 Parganas district.
In one of the purported videos, Singh and his aides could be seen holding a person by his hands and legs while others beat him with sticks inside the club.
Officials said that Singh had been arrested multiple times in the past in connection with several cases.
Police have registered a case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that the videos which were being circulated were old.
“The incident dates back to 2021. A TV channel has repeatedly shown it over the past 72 hours. This was to malign our image ahead of the bye-election. Those who did this are already in jail. It took place when Arjun Singh was the MP,” Banerjee told reporters.
Sagarika Ghose, TMC Rajya Sabha MP, also took to X, saying that the video was old and the accused were already in jail. “Adviser to @MamataOfficial Shri Alapan Bandopadhyay provides some facts about the Taltala club Ariadaha video being circulated by @BJP4India handles on social media. 1) The video is 3 years old from March 2021 and the accused are already in jail 2) The victim in this 2021 video is a male, not female 3) The Bengal government is concerned that an old video is being misrepresented and circulated hours before crucial Bengal.”
Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party leader and spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya attacked Banerjee, saying that the chief minister was responsible for the incident. “We are living in total anarchy. The chief minister is responsible for this. TMC MP Saugata Roy is blaming the police. The chief minister is the state home minister. It is irrelevant to discuss when the incident took place and who was the MP at that time. Banerjee was the chief minister in 2021,” he said.
