Kolkata : A Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha member and Bengali film actor, Tapas Paul, and Birbhum Trinamool Congress president Anubrata Mondal, against whom criminal cases were registered, were granted bail on Monday by the district courts.
The Krishnanagar district court granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 5,000 to Paul after he surrendered before the court. Paul had said in a gathering in June 2014 in Krishnanagar that he would get the CPM’s women supporters raped if they confronted any TMC supporters. He had also threatened that he keeps a revolver with him and would shoot anyone who raises a finger at his party’s supporters. This had led to severe criticism from the opposition parties.
A case was initially registered at the local police station against the TMC Lok Sabha member. Later, the state CID had taken up the case. The CID submitted the chargesheet to the Krishnanagar court in May this year, indicting Paul under several sections, including outraging the modesty of women.
Another high-profile TMC leader and the president of the Birbhum district unit of the party, Anubrata Mondal, was also given bail on a personal bond of Rs 1,000 by the chief judicial magistrate of Suri court. Just before the state panchayat polls in 2013, Mondal had exhorted party cadres to burn down the houses of dissidents contesting as independents and bomb the police if they came to rescue them.
Ambar Mukherjee
