TMC leaders ‘dodge’ cops, meet victims’ kin

TMC MP KAKOLI GHOSH DASTIDAR SAYS FAMILIES OF DECEASED FARMERS WANT FRESH AUTOPSY

NEW DELHI: Even as several opposition leaders struggled to visit Lakhimpur Kheri, where eight people were killed on Sunday, a five-member Trinamool Congress (TMC) delegation on Tuesday met families of four farmers who were allegedly mowed down by a car owned by Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra, people familiar with the developments said.

TMC MPS Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Sushmita Dev, Dola Sen, Pratima Mondal and Abir Ranjan Biswas posed as locals and walked through paddy fields, dodging a large contingent of police watching out for political leaders, to enter the district, they said, requesting anonymity.

“At Lucknow airport, we were told that we would be provided with security cover. We, however, managed to dodge the cops and took a different route, and even walked through paddy fields as police had blocked almost all the roads,” Dastidar told HT.

Following her interaction with families of the deceased and villagers, the TMC lawmaker claimed that the “people are furious and want a fresh post mortem of the dead bodies in Delhi, as they don’t trust the post mortem conducted at the local level”.

The TMC MPS were continuously in touch with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who instructed them to camp in that area and interact with villagers, the people cited above said.

“Beyond appalling how the @BJP4UP government is treating our farmers! Every day is turning out to be a new disaster while Mr. @narendramodi remains silent! Shameful state of affairs!” Dastidar tweeted.

The local administration, however, refuted claims of MPS of ‘dodging the police’. “It is not that the district is completely sealed... And these are not the first ones who managed to reach. Some others also managed--for instance the Chandra Shekhar Azad (Bhim Army) or some leaders of RLD. If people if are not in large motorcades or if they are not big leaders, not conspicuous, they can. Aren’t you people (journalist) going there easily, without any hassle”, said a senior state government officer requesting anonymity.