Kolkata, February 23: Fresh violence erupted at Bermajur area in Sandeshkhali on Friday after the villagers torched the property of absconding Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Shahjahan’s brother and mobbed TMC MLA Ajit Maity. The protestors who broke open the fences of Maity’s house were seen beating him with slippers and protesting.
DGP Rajeev Kumar and ADG Supratim Sarkar rushed to the spot to curb the fury. The top cops were seen talking to the villagers and asking them not to take the law into their own hands. "We need to establish the rule of law. Offenders will be punished. All the problems will be heard and necessary steps will be taken," said Kumar.
Suspects Involved In Beating TMC MLA Detained:
Later police were seen detaining a few people who were allegedly involved in the physical assault of the TMC MLA and the local women again started protesting claiming that the "innocent" people were harassed by police and the main culprits are spared.
"We have lost our lands and plots to Sheikh Shahjahan and his brother Siraj. Police never took our complaints then and on the contrary, they had threatened us by taking the TMC leaders' name. Now they are arresting innocent people and are not listening to us," said a protesting woman who tried to block the police car.
Another protester claimed that the police had forcibly drove over a protester who had broken her leg in the process. “Police is taking away our men. All these years where was the police? They (police) cannot find Shahjahan but are taking away our men,” said a woman protester while crying in front of the media.
BJP MP Locket Chatterjee Detained:
On the other hand, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Locket Chatterjee was detained by the police on her way to Sandeshkhali. “Police unlawfully detained me saying that there would be a crowd during the board examination. No women are safe in this state. The Chief Minister did not speak anything in favour of the women of Sandeshkhali but as a public servant we had to go,” said Chatterjee.
Following the mob fury the police had imposed Section 144 of CrPc at several places in Bermajur village. TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh however, slammed the opposition parties for allegedly creating chaos in Sandeshkhali. Meanwhile, There is a buzz that the Prime Minister might interact with the alleged victims of Sandeshkhali from the Barasat rally on March 6.
According to BJP sources, a separate stage is being set up at Barasat where the alleged Sandeshkhali victims will be present during the rally. “If the victims want to visit and want to talk to the Prime Minister then we (BJP) can take them to the rally and they can interact with the Prime Minister,” Majumdar was heard saying on Thursday. The political observers are of the mind that the Prime Minister’s visit amid unrest in Sandeshkhali is a significant move.
