Kolkata, (Samajweekly) West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday summoned Chief Secretary Hari Krishna Dwivedi and Director General of Police (DGP) Manoj Malaviya to brief him on an incident involving BJP Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, in which he was allegedly stopped from entering Netai under Binpur Block in Jhargram on Friday.
Adhikari was going there to pay homage to nine persons who were shot during the Left Front rule.
“In view of the highly-disturbing scenario, reminiscent of Emergency, in Jan 07 communication @SuvenduWB, WB Guv has directed CS @MamataOfficial & DGP @WBPolice to brief him, fully updated, with written report, on Jan 10 at 11 am,” the Governor tweeted.
Dhankhar’s directive to the state administration came after Adhikari wrote to the Governor alleging that he was not allowed to go to Netai.
“On Friday on my way to Netai, a huge contingent of WB Police blocked my way, barricading the whole road,” Adhikari wrote.
Adhiakri also said that he was not allowed to go to Netai despite him saying that he would go there alone.
Writing in detail, the BJP MLA said, “I would request you to kindly analyse the following information that I am about to share with you as a specimen of the deterioration of the democratic order in West Bengal where even the judiciary holds no importance in the eyes of the authorities in charge of law and order.”
Adhiakri said that on January 7, 2011, armed goons fired indiscriminately targeting innocent villagers of Netai, in which nine lives were lost while several others got injured.
“At that time, I was among the first responders who reached the site, helped the injured receive medical aid and recovered the corpses and sent them for post-mortem. The police at that time were busy shielding the perpetrators of the crime as they belonged to the then ruling party,” Adhikari said.
Adahikari added that he wanted to go to Netai on Friday (January 7), but anticipating that the ruling Trinamool Congress might obstruct him from going there, he wrote to the Jhargram SP seeking permission to which he didn’t respond.
Adhikari said, “I approached the Calcutta High Court well in advance. Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya presided over the matter in W.P.A. No. 129 of 2022.”
“The AG assured the court that there is no restriction on my movement and the state government would provide security for my safe passage to any part of Bengal. He even submitted that as a citizen of India, I am free to visit any part of the country without any hesitation and the case should not have been filed in the first place,” the Leader of the Opposition said.
“Recently, I went to Kotulpur, Bankura, to meet slain potato farmer Tapas Kotal’s family members, for providing financial assistance. He died by suicide after incurring losses due to unseasonal rainfall. But a large number of police personnel led by Additional SP Ganesh Biswas obstructed me. No Section 144 or prohibitory order was in place, nor could he provide any explanation for such restrictions,” Adhikari alleged.
“They deliberately defied Calcutta High Court’s order and contradicted AG’s submission. They didn’t allow me to visit Netal. I pleaded with them to let me visit under any condition, even if it meant for me to go alone. All my requests fell on deaf ears and there was simply no response from Additional SP Kalyan Sarkar, in charge of the force on ground,” he said.
“I then marched to Bhimpur village nearby to commemorate the occasion by paying tributes at a makeshift memorial,” he said.
The Governor responded immediately and asked the two senior state government officials to be present in person on Monday and brief him on the details of the incident.
