In certain areas of Sandeshkhali, West Bengal, which has been tense since last week due to claims of sexual harassment of village women and unlawful land grabbing by local Trinamool Congress leaders, new prohibitory orders were enforced, police reported on Wednesday.
This occurs one day after orders under Section 144 CrPC—which forbids gatherings of four or more individuals in one place—imposed in Sandeshkhali by the Calcutta High Court were overturned.
“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.
Prohibition orders were imposed earlier on Friday night in Sandeshkhali. Since Thursday, some villages have been in a boil. Roads were blocked by hundreds of women demanding the arrest of TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his two aides, Uttam Sardar and Shibaparasd Hazra, while brandishing clubs, brooms, and farming implements.
“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.
On Tuesday, however, the Calcutta High Court declared that no evidence had been shown to it as to why prohibitory orders should be imposed on the entire Sandeshkhali police station area. Judge Jay Sengupta’s bench overturned the previous ruling.
The district administration issued new prohibitory orders in 19 pockets late on Tuesday night.
“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.
Sukanta Majumdar, the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, became ill on Wednesday and needed to be taken to the Basirhat sub-divisional hospital. She was then transferred to a private hospital in Kolkata. When BJP workers led by Majumdar were prevented from entering Sandeshkahli on Tuesday, they got into a fight with the police in Basirhat.
After spending the night at Taki in Basirhat, Majumdar performed “Saraswati puja.” When he attempted to go to Sandeshkahli, police stopped him again, which resulted in a fight. Majumdar was hurt, according to the BJP, during a 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
As previously reported, Hazra made an appearance on a vernacular television channel on Wednesday, declaring, “I am not a criminal.” I’ll take the consequences if it turns out that I did commit a crime. Local leaders of the BJP and CPIM incited the people. There’s propaganda being circulated against me. Poultry farms have caught fire due to them. Women are respected by us. It is a complex plot.
