E-Paper
Row over Bengal killings heats up, Mamata alleges conspiracy
Eight people, including six women, were killed at Bogtui village in Birbhum’s Rampurhat area on March 21 after a mob allegedly set houses on fire following the killing of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Bhadu Sheikh
Kolkata: The political tussle over the massacre in West Bengal’s Birbhum district intensified on Sunday, with chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleging that the incident last week was a conspiracy to scuttle the state’s biggest coal mining project.
“This was a conspiracy to scuttle the Deocha Pachami project (in Birbhum district), which will provide employment to 100,000 people. Some people don’t want that to happen,” Banerjee said at a government event in Siliguri during her four-day tour to northern West Bengal.
The state has started acquiring over 10,000 acres of land for the mining project in the western part of Birbhum.
Eight people, including six women, were killed at Bogtui village in Birbhum’s Rampurhat area on March 21 after a mob allegedly set houses on fire following the killing of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Bhadu Sheikh.
The Calcutta high court has ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case and sought a report by April 7. The case was being investigated by a special investigation team (SIT) formed by the state government. The court, however, handed the case to the CBI.
Banerjee also questioned the ability of CBI, citing cases such as the theft of Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel Prize medallion from the museum at Visva Bharati in Birbhum, in which the federal agency failed to make any headway.
She said the CBI should not follow directions from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the ongoing probe.
The chief minister also referred to incidents in the BJP-ruled states, and asked: “Was justice delivered in the Hathras, Unnao and Lakhimpur Kheri murders in Uttar Pradesh?”
She reiterated that the officer-in-charge of the Rampurhat police station and the sub-divisional police officer were removed from duty for failing to apprehend that the murder of Bhadu Sheikh, a TMC panchayat leader, would trigger arson at Bogtui village. “The entire state police force cannot be held guilty for the mistakes of two officers,” the chief minister said.
She defended the state’s police force, saying the “SIT was doing a great job”.
“It arrested 22 suspects and TMC leader Anarul Hossain. We will cooperate with CBI but if it fails to unravel the truth and gets engaged in pleasing some people, we will hit the streets,” she said.
The TMC chairperson also accused a section of media for “targeting her party”.
“Some news channels are being paid to target us while the fact remains that those who died and those who are accused were all TMC workers and supporters,” she alleged. “I have information that 100 journalists from national media outlets have been hired because it has been proved that only Mamata can fight the BJP.”
Banerjee asked people to be vigilant in view of the massacre. “Keep your ears and eyes open. Inform the local police station if you come to hear of any conspiracy to commit murders or create disturbance. Inform us if the police do not take any action. We will punish those officers,” she said.
“We will soon launch a helpline that will connect you directly to the government. Those who have my number can contact me directly. No leader of our party should be involved in any corruption and conspiracy. I am giving them two months. We will take steps against those who face murder charge,” Banerjee said, warning the TMC’s rank and file.
TMC’s Rampurhat-1 community block unit president Anarul Hossain has been accused as the main conspirator of the massacre by the SIT. He has been charged with murder, arson, rioting with deadly weapons and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code. Hossain was arrested hours after the order came from Banerjee during her visit to Bogtui village on Thursday.
On Sunday, a CBI team interrogated Hossain for over five hours.
“I am being framed by people in Delhi,” Hossain told reporters while being taken from the police prison to the government guest house in Rampurhat where the CBI has set up a field office.
The CBI team also talked to doctors at Rampurhat hospital who treated the injured villagers and recorded the statements of those arrested so far.
Dismissing Banerjee’s allegation of conspiracy, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said, “Banerjee should stop blaming the opposition parties because those who carried out the massacre and the victims all belong to the TMC.”
Meanwhile, West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Sunday demanded imposition of Article 355 in the state, alleging collapse of law and order under Banerjee’s rule. Article 355 of the Constitution deals with an emergency provision by which the Centre can intervene and protect a state against external aggression or internal disturbance.
Chowdhury was leading a foot march from Kadamtala in Howrah to Esplanade in Kolkata, demanding an impartial and fair investigation into the mysterious death of student leader Anis Khan in February.
“One after another incident is taking place in West Bengal. Student leader Anis Khan was pushed down from the third floor of his house and a state-managed probe is taking place, shielding the real conspirators,” Chowdhury claimed.
“Then this barbaric incident at Rampurhat in Birbhum district, where eight people, including women and children, were burnt to death. Our councillor in Jhalda Municipality, Tapan Kandu, was killed from point-blank range but there has not been any proper investigation. All these incidents point towards the virtual collapse of law and order in the state and the complicity of ruling TMC,” the Congress Lok Sabha MP from Baharampur said.
