A war of words erupted between West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and governor Jagdeep Dhankar on Tuesday, over violence in Rampurhat in the state's Birbhum district, which has left eight people dead.
Banerjee urged Dhankar "to refrain from making unwarranted statements and allow the administration to conduct an impartial probe."
This came after Dhankar called West Bengal "a laboratory of violation of human rights."
According to ANI, the West Bengal governor said the "law and order situation in the state was nosediving."
Rampurhati, Birbhum incident | West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee urges Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar "to refrain from making unwarranted statements and allow administration to conduct an impartial probe." pic.twitter.com/PLDp7t74za
— ANI (@ANI) March 22, 2022
Amit Shah seeks report from Bengal govt
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs has sought a detailed report from the West Bengal government on the Rampurhat incident. The move comes after a nine-member delegation of BJP MPs met Union home minister Amit Shah and sought his intervention, ANI reported. BJP has also formed a five-member fact-finding committee comprising Sukanta Majumdar, Bharati Ghosh, Brajlal, Satyapal Singh and KC Ramamurthy. They will submit a report after collecting evidence from the spot. A CID team reached has also reached the spot where eight people including two children were charred to death after their houses were set ablaze in the early hours of Tuesday. Violence erupted in the area after local TMC leader Bhadu Sheikh was murdered on Monday.
CID team reaches West Bengal to investigate the #Birbhum incident that claimed the lives of 7-8 people after houses were set ablaze. pic.twitter.com/s6BJ7cjeNW — ANI (@ANI) March 22, 2022
BJP, Congress demand President's rule in Bengal
Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Suvendu Adhikary on Tuesday called for chief minister Banerjee's resignation and President's rule in the state.
"Law and order situation across West Bengal is grave. 26 murders have taken place in the last one week in different parts of the state," ANI quoted him as saying.
The Congress also demanded President's rule with its leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury saying that he will meet Ram Nath Kovind to "suggest him to impose Article 355 in the state."
How the incident unfolded
On Monday evening, Bhadu Sheikh, 38, the deputy pradhan (TMC) of Barishal Gram Panchayat under Rampurhat block 1 was allegedly killed when four men on motorcycles hurled a crude bomb at him.
Sheikh was taken to the Rampurhat government hospital but was declared brought dead. His body has been brought to his native Bagtui village in Rampurhat.
The police filed an FIR in the case. As per a News18 report, the police were quoted as saying that one person from the list had been arrested while 15 others have been detained.
Shortly after the death, violence broke out in Rampurhat when a mob allegedly locked up 10-12 houses with the residents inside and set them on fire.
DGP Manoj Malaviya told reporters in Kolkata, according to a PTI report that seven charred bodies were recovered from one of the burnt houses, while one injured person died in hospital.
He added that the situation was now under control and a police picket has been established in the village since last night. "We are investigating how the houses caught fire and whether the incident is related to the death of the panchayat deputy chief of Barshal village," he was quoted as saying.
The fire brigade officials, however, claimed that 10 charred bodies had been found.
Taking cognisance of the violence, the Mamata Banerjee-led government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by the additional director general of police (CID), Gyanwant Singh, to probe the incident.
Also, the Sub Divisional Police Officer and in-charge of Rampurhat police station have been removed from active policing duty.
A three-member TMC delegation — comprising Firhad Hakim, Rampurhat MLA Asish Banerjee, and MLA of Labpur constituency Abhijit Sinha — is also visiting the violent-hit area.
Evoking memories of 2001
The Telegraph reported that the incident in Rampurhat was reminiscent of an incident from 21 years ago.
In the then unheard village of Chhoto Angaria in West Midnapore’s Garbeta, 11 Trinamool workers were claimed to have been burnt to death by local Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders on the night of 4 January 2001.
Mamata Banerjee, the then main Opposition leader, had hit the streets to draw political capital from the flames of Chhoto Angaria. Thirteen people charged in the 2001 massacre were acquitted in 2009 for lack of evidence.
With inputs from agencies
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