'TMC Falsely Implicating Victim of Police Atrocities'

KOLKATA: The opposition parties in West Bengal on Monday targeted the ruling TMC, following the arrest of a Muslim woman, a BJP supporter who is a victim of police atrocities.

Film star-turned-BJP leader Rupa Ganguly visited the Suri Jail in Birbhum district and met the woman, who was charged with possession of bombs and remanded in 12 days of judicial custody on Sunday.

“False cases have been registered against the woman with a motive as her case against police officers, who had tortured her, is scheduled for hearing at the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday,” Ganguly said.

The BJP leaders asked how a woman who was provided with police protection under the High Court directive could be charged with manufacturing bombs and hurling them. “What were the security guards provided by the district police doing then,” they wondered.

The woman was picked up by Birbhum district police, during a raid in a village in Burdwan district when the team went looking for her husband’s nephew, who is a BJP worker, following clashes at Sattor village in Birbhum district.

On the night of January 17, the police team allegedly took the woman to a jungle, slashed her palms with a razor and also rubbed poison ivy on her private parts.

As the atrocities were reported in the media, the High Court on January 19 took up her case suo moto and directed the police to provide her protection round the clock. The CID, which was entrusted the task of probing the case, on April 17 submitted a chargesheet against a police  officer and three constables, including a woman.

However, the accused on April 24 managed to obtain bail, leading to the woman victim filing a complaint in the High Court.

On Saturday, the police received a report about bombs being stockpiled at the local TMC office at Sattor, but local BJP workers blocked roads since no action was taken. The police, instead of raiding the TMC office, arrested the woman, her husband, mother-in-law and three other BJP workers, Babar Ali, Sheikh Safiul and Sheikh Hafizul. The woman’s three-year-old son is also in jail as all family members have been remanded in judicial custody.

Ganguly and another state BJP leader Jaiprakash Majumdar, who visited the Suri district court on Monday, were asked to leave the Bar Association room in the court premises by the public prosecutor leading to a heated argument. They visited the home of the victim and assured her and her family of all legal help as the case would be heard again soon.

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The New Indian Express
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