‘Bengal govt failed to stop riots’ Caught off-guard, state to revamp its intel mechanism
COMMUNAL CLASHES Police accuse BJP delegation of violating prohibitory orders and say legal action will be taken against them
A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation on Sunday visited the violence-hit areas of Asansol in West Bengal, ignoring the ban imposed by the administration, and accused the state government of “completely failing to stop the violence”.
Despite being stopped by police a few times, the four-member team, along with their security personnel, entered the areas that were most severely hit during the clashes a week ago and accused the Bengal government of failing to stop the violence.
“We have met the affected people and listened to the problems they faced during the clashes. It is a complete failure of the state government to stop the violence. (Chief minister) Mamata Banerjee is roaming around in Delhi but kids here are getting tortured and murdered,” said BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain, who was part of the team.
“We have come here for peace. We will prepare a complete report and submit it to the party president as directed,” he added.
BJP president Amit Shah set up a four-member committee comprising party vice-president Om Mathur, Hussain and MPs Roopa Ganguly and BD Ram to take stock of the situation in West Bardhaman district’s Asansol-Raniganj area where a clash broke out between two communities after a Ram Navami rally.
The state government had beefed up security and issued prohibitory orders in the area.
KOLKATA:
It also clarified that it would not be able to provide ample police protection and pilot cars to the BJP delegation as it would violate the model code of conduct issued in the state since Saturday for the impending rural elections here.
Police accused the BJP delegation of violating the prohibitory orders and said legal action would be taken against them.
“They have violated the CrPC 144 imposed in the area by entering there. We will take action against them according to law,” superintendant of police, Asansol-Durgapur, LN Meena said.
A person was allegedly hacked to death while a deputy commissioner of police suffered a serious hand injury after getting hit by a bomb during a clash between two groups after a Ram Navami procession organised by Sangh affiliates in Raniganj on Monday. Several shops and houses were vandalised and set ablaze during the clashes.
Police stopped Union minister Babul Supriyo, who is the local MP, from visiting the area a few days back, saying it would add to tension. A Congress delegation led by state president Adhir Chowdhury was also barred from entering Asansol, while Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sujan Chakraborty and his associates were stopped by police from going to Raniganj on Saturday.
The West Bengal government is revamping its intelligence wing to help avert incidents of violence in the state, a home department official said.
Caught off guard during the recent Asansol-Raniganj violence, the state is also planning to strengthen its ground-level intelligence-gathering mechanism, the senior official said.
The revamp has been necessitated owing to inadequate infrastructure in the present set-up. “We are strengthening the local intelligence gathering mechanism so that such incidents can be averted,” the official said.
After the Khagragarh blast in 2014, which unearthed the terror module of a Bangladeshi militant group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, the need for strengthening the local intelligence gathering mechanism was first felt.
Following the incident two years ago, the state government had mooted the idea of setting up a Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) in every police district for gathering information at the grassroots level, which will help gain information about terrorists and subversive activities.
But apart from deputing officers in LIU unit, the cell is yet to take off fully due to lack of office space and other infrastructure in most districts.
“The officers for LIU have been deputed in most areas but due to lack of office space and infrastructure, their functioning is affected as they can’t operate in local police stations because their identity will be revealed,” said a senior police official on condition of anonymity.
Although the stress was initially laid on bordering districts, it was later decided that the LIU would be expanded to all districts.
According to a senior police officer privy to the development, apart from the traditional posting of DIB (District Intelligence Branch) officer in each police districts, the local civic volunteers of the police will also be used to collect information.
But the state police, following widespread violence in Purulia, Murshidabad, Raniganj and Asansol over Ram Navami celebrations, has decided to pull up their socks and ensure that this newly formed LIUs have all the facilities to function properly.
According to the official, there are specific inputs that the riots that took place in Bengal after 2016 were “pre-planned and are not sporadic incidents as projected by a section of political parties and media”.
“If you are witnessing one communal incident, then please keep it in mind that before this one incident we have been able to tackle more than 20 such small incidents which have not made headlines,” he said.
We have met the affected people and listened to the problems they faced during the clashes. It is a complete failure of the state government... (CM) Mamata Banerjee is roaming around in Delhi but kids here are getting tortured and murdered.
SHAHNAWAZ HUSSAIN, BJP spokesperson and team member KOLKATA: