KOLKATA: In a bid to “put pressure on Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC)Government”, the state BJP on Monday sent a report to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the deteriorating law and order situation in West Bengal, including the killing of its workers.
“We have sent a detailed report to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on the recent murder of BJP worker Sourav Chowhdury. All the murders are manifestations of the instigating speeches made by the TMC leaders,” state BJP chief Rahul Sinha said.
The brutal killing of Sourav, 22, by a mafia don-turned TMC member in neighbouring North 24 Parganas district,which had witnessed a series of rapes and murders over the last couple of years, on Saturday has shocked the entire state.
It was the pluck shown by the youth, who had stood up against organised crime in his locality, that eventually cost him his life. And it was the sheer brutality of the murder– Sourav’s badly mutilated body had been dumped beside a railway track-- which gave a chilling reminder of the criminals’ sheer brazenness.
Initially, state Food Minister Jyotipriya Mullick had claimed that Sourav was a member of the TMC student wing. However, he backtracked after the state BJP leaders provided documentary evidence to show that the deceased had been a poll agent for the party nominee in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
Sinha, on his part, demanded a CBI probe into the murder. He recalled that while in the Opposition Mamata had demanded CBI inquiries at the drop of a hat but opposed it now, in order, to allegedly hush up heinous crimes.
Refuting Mullick’s claim that Sourav’s assailant Shyamal Karmakar was “seen in the BJP processions during the Lok Sabha elections”, Sinha said, “We do not know this Shyamal whom the minister seems to know. The local people are saying that he operated with the blessings of the TMC leaders.”
Furthermore, the state BJP chief said, “Some TMC leaders have been delivering inflammatory and anti-social speeches leading to violence and murder of not only our workers but also those belonging to other Opposition parties, the latest being TMC MP Tapas Pal.”
“We demand that Pal’s Lok Sabha membership be revoked by the Speaker and our members will take it up in Parliament. Being a woman Chief Minister Mamata should expel him from the party for his hate speech against women,” he said.
The state Assembly too witnessed uproarious scenes over the killing of Sourav, with the CPM-led Opposition demanding a statement from the CM on the issue since the assailants are still at large. The Congress had staged a walkout while the Left Front legislators continued to protest inside the House.