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Six arrested in BJP MP, MLAs assault cases in north Bengal; BJP to move HC
The accused, all residents of West Bengal’s Khayerbari, were arrested between Wednesday and Thursday afternoon: District superintendent of police
Kolkata: Six people were arrested from north Bengal in connection with the alleged assaults on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member and a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) on September 6, and another BJP MLA a day later, police said on Thursday.
The accused — Etwa Oraon, Govind Sharma, Akramul Haque, Sahanur Alam, and Tofayel Hossain — all residents of West Bengal’s Khayerbari, were arrested between Wednesday and Thursday afternoon, district superintendent of police Khandbahale Umesh Ganpath said.
According to police officers, five people were arrested for allegedly attacking BJP’s North Malda lawmaker Khagen Murmu and Siliguri MLA Shankar Ghosh in the Nagrakata assembly constituency in Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district on September 6, when they were visiting flood-affected areas. Murmu was taken to a hospital with injuries to the face.
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“They were involved in the crime. The local court remanded them in police custody for three days,” Ganpath said.
BJP MLA Manoj Oraon was assaulted in his Kumargram constituency in the adjoining Alipurduar district on September 7.
“A man identified as Ashutosh Mondal was arrested for the alleged attack on Oraon,” superintendent of police Y Raghuvamshi said.
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BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the Bengal legislative assembly, alleged that none of those arrested for the attack on Murmu and Ghosh figured in the suspect list mentioned in the police complaint filed by the party. “We will move the Calcutta high court and seek investigation by federal agencies,” Adhikari said.
Countering him, state commerce and industries minister Shashi Panja said: “Will police make arrests to suit the BJP’s convenience or follow the results of its own investigation?”
Two petitions were filed at the high court on Thursday. One of these was moved by Anindya Sundar Das, a lawyer, who sought a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
