West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday alleged that outsiders were brought to the state to carry out attacks on the local police station and private property at Kaliaganj in Uttar Dinajpur district.
Banerjee alleged BJP was behind the incidents of vandalism that rocked Kaliaganj on Tuesday following the death of a minor girl last week and directed the state police to explore attaching properties of those found involved in the case of arson and violence.
BJP dismissed her charges as “absurd.”
"Outsiders were brought in to set fire to Kaliaganj police station as well as ordinary people's property. Police will explore attaching properties of those involved in rioting," Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat after an administrative meeting.
"BJP brought hooligans from Bihar and they ransacked and set on fire the Kaliaganj police station. They planned the entire vandalism. Even policewomen were assaulted," the chief minister claimed.
She said the police will probe both the girl's death as also the arson and vandalism which occurred on Tuesday.
"Our government is with the family of the victim," Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat after an administrative meeting.
"The BJP is carrying out hooliganism in Bengal. They are attempting to create disturbance in Bengal. We will defeat this conspiracy to create anarchy," she said.
She claimed the centre was trying to "disturb all states where the opposition was in power."
Referring to the suspension of four police officers for allegedly dragging the body of the minor girl who was found dead on April 17, Banerjee said that while their behaviour could not be defended, the police were attacked by miscreants who pelted them with stones and indicated this may have led them to try rush out of the area.
The girl had been missing overnight before her body was found floating in a canal, and though locals had voiced suspicion that she may have been raped and then killed, a post-mortem report idicated she was not sexually violated.
She said that a decision has been taken to provide body-bags to every police station at the administrative meeting held here today.
"The way the girl's body was dragged was not correct. But how could they carry it because they were pelted with stones. We have decided to give every police station at least 10 bags to carry dead bodies. We have suspended four police men and their roles will be reviewed," she said.
BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya dismissed Banerjee’s allegations of BJP’s involvement as "absurd".
"The CM is in the habit of making such statements when she finds the going tough. It was a case of spontaneous mob fury. How can the BJP be accused of instigating the mob," he asked.
Bhattacharya also claimed the CM had insulted the people of Bihar.
"On the one hand, she is inviting kin of fodder scam accused (RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav) to Bengal, while on the other she is insulting the neighbouring state" by claiming outsiders from Bihar were involved in the violence, Bhattacharya claimed.
A BJP delegation led by BJP chief whip in West Bengal Assembly Manoj Tigga, on Wednesday also met West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose to apprise him of their view on the prevailing situation in Kaliaganj and to demand swift action against the culprits.
"We have urged the Governor to ensure that action is taken against the culprits. The way tribals are being attacked in various parts of the state is unacceptable. The state government must take swift action to ensure justice is delivered," Tigga said.
The chief minister also lashed out at the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), which visited the state in the Kaliaganj case, questioning why they were silent on other cases like the Bilkis Bano case in Gujarat or the recent Delhi court firing.
"I do not have any problem with them coming here. But I would like to ask them why they do not have faith in the state child commission. Why are they silent in the Bilkis' case and the recent firing incident in Delhi court?" she said.
Lauding the police for disarming and arresting a man who barged into a school in Old Malda brandishing a gun on Wednesday, thereby averting a school hostage crisis, Banerjee alleged that the entire matter may have been a plot.
"Case of man brandishing gun at Malda school may not be act of lunacy," the chief minister said.
The hostage crisis was defused by police officers and locals overpowering the gun wielding man who entered a classroom full of stuednts in a local high school and claimed he wanted to draw attention to a year-old complaint that his wife and son were missing.
Locals however said the man's wife and son were living apart after separation from him.
- With PTI Input
