'Sacrifice' intruders, says Trinamool leader; justifies call

Trinamool Congress leader Arup Chakraborty has been caught on tape asking partymen to "sacrifice intruders". He Tuesday justified his remark, saying he was talking about the right of self-defence.

Trinamool Congress leader Arup Chakraborty has been caught on tape asking partymen to "sacrifice intruders". He Tuesday justified his remark, saying he was talking about the right of self-defence.

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Telecast by a Bengali news channel, a video clip shows Chakraborty, head of the party unit in West Bengal's Bankura district, asking his partymen to "sacrifice whoever intrudes your homes".

"If any outsider enters your house, cut him down, sacrifice him, I will take care of that, you don't have to worry," Chakraborty is seen telling his party activists in Bankura.

Asserting his comments will not create a problem, Chakraborty on Tuesday said he was talking about the right of self-defence.

"Why should my comments create problems? I have talked about the right of self defence. If somebody attacks my house or is forcibly taking out our women, should I be a mute spectator? Won't I exercise my right of private defence," Chakraborty asked.

"What I have said is if somebody enters a Trinamool worker's house for rioting, he has the right of self-defence. He has the right to kill the intruder," he added.

Chakraborty's comments come at a time when there has been a countrywide outrage over Trinamool Lok Sabha member Tapas Paul's remarks threatening to "let loose my men for raping CPI-M women".

Paul, who represents Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal's Nadia district, was caught on video warning Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) men to beware as he won't spare them and would "destroy" their entire clan.

His remarks have drawn widespread criticism, with people across political lines and activists demanding his arrest.

Several Trinamool leaders have in the past been in the eye of the storm for their hate speeches.

The party's Birbhum district chief Anubrata Mandal has been accused in a murder case when a panchayat member was killed, days after Mandal allegedly asked his party workers to "attack the houses of rivals and bomb the police if they prevent you".

Infamous for his hate speeches, Mandal earlier likened CPI-M activists to "rats hiding in burrows".

"The rats are now hiding in their burrows, you should pit the burrows with mud and also use cyanide so they don't come out," Mandal told a party rally.

Manirul Islam, party legislator from Labhpur in Birbhum district, was in the news for publicly claiming that he crushed to death three people under his feet and for threatening to behead a Congress leader from the district.

"... it would not take me even a minute to behead you," Islam said at a rally last year and went on to claim how he had "squashed" three people under his feet for committing atrocities against women.