Days after being accused of inaction, the Murshidabad district police in Bengal have arrested two local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders in the Kandi area for allegedly assaulting a Border Security Force (BSF) jawan on December 11.
The injured jawan, Biswajit Sahani, 32, is attached to 169th Battalion. He was posted at Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir till he came home on leave. The jawan’s family lives in the Kalabagan area of Kandi. He is now in hospital.
The police arrested Saddam Hossain and Hiran Miyan from Kandi on Monday night for their alleged role in the assault on Sahani. Hossain is a member of the local Mahalandi gram panchayat while Miyan is a TMC leader in Kandi town.
Last Friday, Sahani was returning home from the local market on his motorcycle when the TMC was holding a roadshow as part of its new outreach programme, Bangadhani (voice of Bengal).
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Sahani was stopped so that the procession could pass. The BSF jawan requested the TMC men to let him go and this led to an altercation, Sahani’s family said in the police complaint. The TMC workers assaulted Sahani and also vandalised his motorcycle, the complaint said.
{{/usCountry}}Sahani was stopped so that the procession could pass. The BSF jawan requested the TMC men to let him go and this led to an altercation, Sahani’s family said in the police complaint. The TMC workers assaulted Sahani and also vandalised his motorcycle, the complaint said.
{{/usCountry}}Sahani was rushed to the Kandi government hospital and was later moved to Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital in Berhampore town.
His family alleged that officers at Kandi police station did not take action even after receiving a written complaint from the jawan’s father, Biswanath Sahani.
Berhampore Lok Sabha member and state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury and district Bharatiya Janata Party president Gouri Shankar Ghosh visited the injured jawan in hospital. They strongly criticized the police in public.
The jawan’s elder brother, Rajesh Sahani, said, “It is very unfortunate that the police sat on the complaint for almost three days. My brother is still under treatment. The TMC workers had hit him on the head with his own helmet. He was brutally thrashed as well.”
“My brother is on leave since February this year as he is undergoing treatment for some physical and psychological problems,” added Rajesh Sahani.
Subhas Ghosh, inspector-in-charge of Kandi police station, said, “Saddam Hossain and Hiran Miyan have been booked under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code. They will be produced before the local court on Tuesday. We will pray for their judicial custody for two weeks.”
TMC’s district spokesperson Apurba Sarkar, who was leading the rally on Friday, said, “The administration is doing its duty. We have nothing to say on this issue.”