Kolkata: Fresh prohibitory orders were clamped in some pockets of West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali, which has been tense since last week over allegations of sexual harassment of village women and illegal land grabbing by local Trinamool Congress leaders, police said on Wednesday.
This comes a day after the Calcutta high court set aside orders under Section 144 CrPC (prohibiting the assembly of four or more people in an area) imposed in Sandeshkhali
“Prohibitory orders have been imposed in 19 pockets of seven villages of Sandeshkhali block-II since Tuesday night till February 19. The situation would be reviewed,” said a senior IPS officer who asked not to be named.
Earlier, prohibitory orders were clamped across Sandeshkhali on Friday night. Some villages have been on the boil since Thursday. Hundreds of women carrying sticks, brooms, and farming tools blocked roads and demanded the arrest of TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his two aides Uttam Sardar and Shibaparasd Hazra.
“Senior lady IPS officers of DIG level rank had been to the area on Tuesday to speak with the women villagers. This process would continue. Our main aim is to ensure the safety of the women and other villagers. We would request villagers to come to the administration if they have any kind of complaint,” Sumit Kumar, DIG of Barasat range, told media persons.
The Calcutta high court, however, said on Tuesday that no material was placed before it to explain why the entire Sandeshkhali police station area should be under prohibitory orders. A bench of Justice Jay Sengupta quashed the earlier order.
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Late on Tuesday night the district administration imposed fresh prohibitory orders in 19 pockets.
“The TMC has completed the politicisation of administration. There is nothing called police administration in the state. They can’t address the grievances of the people, they can’t arrest criminals. Instead they would create obstacles when someone tries to stand beside the people. Anger is brewing in the villages which may any time out burst in the form of mass protest. That’s why the TMC is desperately trying to stop anybody from entering the villages,” Samik Bhattacharya, BJP spokesperson, told the media.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar fell ill and had to be rushed to the Basirhat sub-divisional hospital and later shifted to private hospital in Kolkata. On Tuesday BJP workers led by Majumdar clashed with the police in Basirhat when they were stopped from visiting Sandeshkahli.
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Majumdar held ‘Saraswati puja’ at Taki in Basirhat where he had stayed overnight. Police stopped him again when he tried to go to Sandeshkahli, which led to a scuffle. BJP alleged that Majumdar was injured in police lathi charge.
“We have seen the BJP doing politics over lord Ram. Today they did politics over Goddess Saraswati. In none of the videos we could see anyone pushing Majumdar or manhandling him. He suddenly complained of illness on his own. We wish him good luck for an acting career,” said Santanu Sen, TMC MP
Hazra, mentioned earlier in the story, appeared on a vernacular television channel on Wednesday saying: “I am not a criminal. If it is proved that I have committed some crime I will accept the punishment. Local CPIM and BJP leaders provoked the villagers. Propaganda is being spread against me. They have set ablaze poultry farms. We respect women. It’s a deep conspiracy.”
