The West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC) on Friday ordered an inquiry into the arrest of a farmer, who was branded a Maoist by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recently. The inquiry report would be submitted to the commission within three weeks.
Shiladitya Chowdhury was called a Maoist when he dared to question Didi during her rally at Belpahari in West Midnapore. Soon after, he was detained for interrogation on August 8 and arrested on August 11. He was later remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
The BJP Bengal unit had earlier met the commission demanding that immediate action be taken.
“A BJP delegation met the WBHRC and told them that the entire incident is framed. The person branded Maoist is a poor farmer... We have sought a CBI inquiry into the incident,” said Ritesh Tiwari, secretary, BJP Bengal unit.
Mamata’s autocratic style of functioning had attracted widespread criticism in the past also. In May, she stormed out of a news channel discussion branding students participating in the session as Maoists, when they questioned her on the arrest of Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra and increased rate of crime against women in the state.
Much like Shiladitya Chowdhury, Mahapatra had found himself at the receiving end when he was arrested for circulating an anti-Mamata cartoon.
Recently, the WBHRC had directed the state government to provide a compensation `50,000 to Mahapatra for harassment at the hands of policemen.