During the Nabanna Chalo Abhiyan in West Bengal, violence resulted in the injuries of numerous party members. A five-member Bharatiya Janata Party fact-finding team was formed to look into the incident. On Saturday, the group delivered its findings to BJP national president JP Nadda.
Violence incidents should be probed by a central organisation like the CBI, according to the committee led by former Uttar Pradesh DGP and BJP Rajya Sabha Member Brij Lal.
The committee questioned the state police’s function and said that it worked “hand in glove” with the state legislature.
“State police are unable to conduct an impartial investigation because they work closely with their political masters, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which is led by Mamata Banerjee and serves as the home minister.
The committee suggests that a central organisation like the CBI conduct an investigation into the entire incident. The National Human Rights Commission should visit Kolkata to investigate the severe abuse of human rights and brutality committed by the Kolkata Police and TMC thugs “According to the committee’s findings.
The committee alleged that TMC thugs and police personnel wearing face coverings and lacking name tags—many of whom were wearing civilian clothing—committed brutal and unprecedented acts of violence.
“To silence the voice of the opposition, the State unlawfully enforced Section 144 CrPC orders in Satragachi and Howrah Maidan. Lal Bazaar and MG Road saw unparalleled violence committed by the StateGovt Machinery despite the fact that no such orders under Section 144 CrPC were issued for the assembly of demonstrators there “added the report.
In addition, it stated that over 750 residents and BJP employees were hurt in the violence, many of them were hospitalised in the intensive care unit (ICU) not only in West Bengal hospitals but also in hospitals in neighbouring states.
The report stated that 60 workers are still in police detention and that over 550 arbitrary arrests were made both before and during the demonstration. Additionally, the committee stated in its report that it is still unknown locations of roughly 45 employees.
The TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee’s comment made amid the rioting was denounced by the committee.
Regarding the alleged attack on certain Kolkata police officers, Banerjee had said that if he had been present, he would have shot the demonstrators in the head.
The committee report stated that “this very remark of the TMC party’s second-in-command indicates the fascist attitude of their Party as well as the fact that the unlawful and violent use of force by the State police on September 13 had the consent of the TMC party’s political superiors.”
The senior brass of the police administration, who are allegedly “hand in gloves with their political masters,” allegedly plotted to utilise the police to target BJP members and sow fear and panic among the populace in order to weaken the political opposition.
The report cited specific police personnel among those who were harassed, claiming that “false charges had been made against BJP volunteers and they are still being harassed.” It claimed that Praveen Kumar Tripathi, Damayanti Sen, and Siddhnath Gupta, all IPS, had “grossly disregarded their responsibilities and operated in a biassed way against BJP karyakartas.”
“We have done a complete inquiry and as always what is coming to the fore is that there is no rule of law in Bengal and it is ‘jungle raj’ under Mamata Banerjee,” Brij Lal said, expressing satisfaction with the committee’s findings to the media agency.
While we urge the CBI and NHRC to conduct an investigation, we also hold out hope that the Calcutta High Court would seriously note the violence and demand a suo moto investigation.
Sunil Jakhar, a senior politician from Punjab and another committee member, told the news organisation, “Our finding is that it was state-supported hooliganism and savagery on our BJP activists. It is regrettable to observe how closely the government and the police are allied.
A fact-finding committee made up of five senior party figures, including Brij Lal, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Aparajita Sarangi, Sameer Oraon, and Sunil Jakhar, was constituted by BJP head JP Nadda on September 15. On September 17, the Committee travelled to Kolkata to begin its investigation.
The fact-finding team had extensive conversations with West Bengali party members. Along with a few administrative authorities like the Station House Officer (SHO) and his coworkers at Hare Street Police Station, it also addressed certain non-political individuals.
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