E-Paper
BJP report links TMC leader to Birbhum killings, CM rebuts
A five-member fact-finding committee of the BJP submitted its report to party president JP Nadda on Wednesday. The report stated pointed to the involvement of TMC district president Anubrata Mondol.
Kolkata: The political tussle over the massacre of nine people in West Bengal’s Birbhum district escalated on Wednesday after a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) report linked a local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader with the violence, drawing a sharp response from chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who called it an attempt to weaken the ongoing probe.
Also Read | 30 mins to cover less than 1 km: Station diary shows delay by police in Birbhum
Eight people, mostly women and children, were killed on March 21 following the killing of TMC panchayat leader Bhadu Sheikh in Bogtui village of Birbhum district. One more woman succumbed on Monday, taking the toll to nine. On March 25, the Calcutta high court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the incident and submit a report by April 7.
A five-member fact-finding committee of the BJP submitted its report to party president JP Nadda on Wednesday. The report stated pointed to the involvement of TMC district president Anubrata Mondol based on the statements he made immediately after the incident was reported. Mondol had told the media that the houses may have caught fire because of a short circuit or a blast in a television set
“It is absolutely a BJP’s conspiracy. It is a larger conspiracy. We have seen the report. How do they know who all are involved without investigating?” asked Banerjee. “The (CBI) hasn’t completed even one-fourth of its investigation and you (BJP) are mentioning the names of those who are responsible. They (BJP) have already taken a decision.”
Also Read | BJP doesn’t win elections by killing political rivals: Amit Shah in LS
“In the report they have mentioned the name of my (party’s) district president... This is very rough, negative, biased and vindictive attitude,” Banerjee told reporters at Darjeeling in north Bengal. “How can they mention his name without investigation? It means they want to arrest him. That is a personal vendetta.”
The BJP said Nadda expressed concern over the Birbhum incident and the role of the state police. “We have submitted a comprehensive report to party president JP Nadda, seeking central intervention as the state’s law and order has touched the rock bottom. The chief minister is making baseless allegations. The CBI is probing on the orders of the high court. The BJP had no role here,” said Sukanta Majumdar, BJP’s West Bengal president. “He (Nadda) has gone through it extensively. He expressed his concern over the genocide and the role of police.”
The 24-page report also alleged that the TMC’s block president Anarul Hossain was alerted by one of the victims when the houses were being set on fire but he did not do anything to intervene. The report further alleges a strong nexus between criminals and politicians while tracing the alleged rise of slain TMC leader Sheikh from a helper in a local meat shop to a TMC strongman. According to the report, Badu Sheikh was killed over differences between two factions of the TMC over “cut money” which came from allegedly extorting truck drivers. The Birbhum carnage was a retaliation of Sheikh’s murder.
The BJP has also demanded that the National Human Rights Commission, the National Commission for Women and National Commission for Protection of Child Rights send teams to Bogtui village. It also demanded that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) should step in to bust the illegal extortion racket.
The CBI hasn’t questioned Mondol so far but sleuths of the federal agency have already spoken to Anarul Hossain, who was arrested on the orders of chief minister Mamata Banerjee and is now in custody.
Senior TMC leaders, including Banerjee, have already said the state would cooperate with the central agency but warned of protests if CBI followed directions from the BJP.
“It is BJP’s pocketed report. I have no comments. But such reports will interfere into the ongoing investigation and weaken it. The investigation would be misused for political purposes. I condemn this,” the TMC chairperson said.
“When an investigation is going on, there shouldn’t be any interference from the political party or any other sides. Investigation must be free and fair. Interference by party at this juncture will mean misuse and abuse of power. This will mislead and distort the investigation. People will lose their confidence,” said the chief minister.
The developments came days after Banerjee made renewed efforts to forge a national opposition platform and blamed the BJP of misusing central agencies.
On March 27, she wrote a letter to non-BJP chief ministers and opposition parties accusing the BJP of “using central agencies like CBI and Enforcement Directorate to target and harass political opponents”. For the first time, she also alleged that the BJP was trying to influence the judiciary.
“They want to forcefully evict political parties with vendetta. I condemn this. They want to arrest everyone, whoever is opposing the BJP. They want to arrest all political leaders and their family members,” she wrote in the letter.
ED had summoned the chief minister’s nephew and party MP Abhishek Banerjee for questioning on Tuesday in connection with the ongoing coal smuggling probe. He, however, skipped it. The agency also summoned Abhishek’s wife Rujira and his sister-in-law Menaka Gambhir. All three have been questioned earlier.
