KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with the top police officials here on Monday to discuss the Park Street rape case.
Mamata had earlier claimed that the incident was a ‘fabricated story’ intended to malign her government.
Didi has come under severe criticism and pressure to apologise for her comments from all political circles. Joint Commissioner (Crime) Damayanti Sen, Joint Commissioner (Headquarters) Jawed Shamim and Police Commissioner R K Pachnanda made desperate efforts to reinstate the credibility of the CM.
Pachnanda called the rape case an attempt to malign the government, while State Sports Minister Madan Mitra went a step further and cast aspersion on the victim’s character. “The CM has never interfered in any investigation,” said Shamim.
The statements came after the Kolkata police, led by Sen, managed to arrest three of the accused on Saturday, while the hunt is on for two more accused.
“It is being said I am working out of my organisation as an individual on this case which is totally false. My entire organisation is working with me and that is why the team has been successful in cracking this case. It is not my individual effort,” said Sen.
A woman was raped and physically assaulted at gun point in a moving car on February 5 when four men picked her up from a popular city nightclub on the pretext of offering her a lift. Mamata was quick to call the case a cooked up story alleging political conspiracy.
“People are trying to give the case a twist by saying there is groupism within the police... The Kolkata police work as a united front under the total guidance of the Commissioner of Police and obviously what the CM wants that is what happen,” added Shamim.
TMC sources said that the CM might have been misinformed by Pachnanda and there were demands for his resignation. Meanwhile, Congress leaders took out a rally in the city to protest the handling of the case by the government.