KOLKATA: The District Magistrate (DM) of Malda on Monday issued a show-cause notice to the Additional DM on charge of his alleged negligence in connection with the gheraoing of seven judicial officers (JOs) at the block development office II in West Bengal's Kaliachak.
According to sources in the Malda district administration, the ADM Ansari Sheikh was sent to control the situation at the Kaliachak BDO II office where the seven JOs were held hostages for more than seven hours since 4 pm on April 2 in protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
Ansari was also instructed to keep the DM updated sharing inputs from the ground zero. But he allegedly didn’t share the updates to the DM for about five hours at a time when the protest spread in other sensitive areas like Sujapur and Mothabari in Malda and other adjoining districts. Sources also said that the ADM was also instructed to keep watch on the incident early Wednesday afternoon.
The DM has sought clarifications on why the ADM, who is an IAS officer, was apparently silent without sharing any inputs from the spot with the former. It tantamount to ‘serious negligence’ in duty, the DM felt in his show-cause notice.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday alleged that the gherao of the seven JOs in Kaliachak II on was not only lawlessness but also a planned maha jungleraj of Trinamool Congress in the State.
He escalated attacks on the Trinamool Congress led by the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee while addressing an election campaign rally at Rashmela ground in Cooch Behar on Sunday afternoon.
“Just a few days ago, the entire nation witnessed judicial officers being held hostage in Malda. What kind of government is this where even judges and the constitutional procedures are not safe? We cannot expect such a government to keep the people of Bengal safe” the PM said.
“What happened in Malda is an example of maha jungleraj of Trinamool Congress in Bengal,” he said alleging that the ruling party was ‘bent on carrying out the funeral procession of law and order’ in the state.
“The attacks on the judicial officers involved in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls exercise in the State are attempts to throttle the Constitution of the country,” Modi said.
“The attacks were made with provocations of the Trinamool Congress to destabilise the judges mentally,” he alleged.