Kolkata: Controversy and violence has always been a part of Bhatapara area near Kolkata. Bhatpara turned into a battlefield on Sunday once again after BJP MP Arjun Singh went to garland statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to celebrate his 125 th birth anniversary.
According to the BJP MP, the alleged TMC supporters ‘attacked’ him for which the CISF had to open seven rounds of bullets.
“The TMC thinks that Netaji is their personal property for which while I was about to garland the statue of Netaji in the locality they had attacked me. My security personnel were attacked by guns and bombs. My car is also damaged following which CISF had to resort to blank firing to save me,” claimed Singh.
Singh later on also complained about the incident to Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.
In a new slugfest between the BJP and the TMC at a programme organized by the TMC-controlled Bhatpara municipality, Singh claimed that the local police failed to give him security while he was stopped and attacked by TMC supporters.
BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar who rushed to the spot claimed that he will inform the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) about the Bhatpara incident.
“Arjun Singh is given Z category security as violence and attacks on him are common. I will take this issue with MHA so that a proper probe can be done. A bullet narrowly missed one of the CISF personnel,” mentioned Majumdar.
However, according to Barrackpore police commissioner Manoj Varma the slugfest started after a minor scuffle between two men and also that no cartridge case was found from the spot.
It can be recalled that this is not the first time that violence erupted in Bhatpara as several incidents of bombing was reported in September last year near Singh’s house, despite police deployment and CCTV camera surveillance. The Bomb Squad also reached his house after the incident.
The explosions were reported within 200 meter radius of Singh’s house and policemen from Jagaddal police station rushed just after the incident, sources said. However, no injury was reported in the bomb explosion.
BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya taking to Twitter claimed, “WB under Mamata Banerjee has become lawless. From the gory post poll violence under her watch which saw men maimed and killed, women raped, there isn’t a day her goons don’t run amok. Today, BJP MP Arjun Singh was attacked while garlanding Netaji’s statue, her police looked on.”
