Speaking at government programme in Birbhum on a day when a delegation of TMC leaders visited Sandeshkhali and spoke with the residents, the party supremo said that not a single woman from the area lodged any FIR and it was she who had directed the police to initiate a suo motu case in this connection.
“No one got an FIR registered. I told the police to lodge a suo motu FIR… Already, the police have arrested our zila parishad members, and the law will take its course. But the BJP is trying to create unrest there. First, they sent the ED and now the BJP is trying to incite a riot,” the chief minister said, adding “if anything has been snatched from the people, it will be returned”.
Last week, BJP leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani alleged that “Hindu women are being raped” in the area, a claim refuted by West Bengal Police. The police have said that there is no communal angle in the violence at Sandeshkhali and that no rape complaint was filed by any woman in the area.
So far, 18 people have been arrested, including local TMC leaders Shibaprasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar, in connection with the incidents of violence at Sandeshkhali. They have also added sections of ‘gangrape’ and ‘attempted murder’ against three of the prime accused, one of whom is still absconding.
“In Bengal, if people are tortured, we take action. I am sending officers who will listen to the people and if it is found that someone has taken things from them, they will get back everything. It’s my promise,” the chief minister said.
The TMC chief also defended local party leader Anubrata Mondal, who was arrested last year by CBI in connection with the cattle smuggling case and is currently in jail.
“There is a conspiracy against Birbhum. How long has Kesto (Anubrata Mondal’s nickname) been in jail? But he could not be removed from people’s minds. I saw when I was coming to this programme, the youths talking about him. I didn’t teach anyone. I was watching people’s reactions. He worked for people. He knows how to work,” the TMC supremo said.
“If there is any complaint against him, then I would like to know how many of BJP leaders have the same complaint? Have you taken any action against them?”
Referring to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) under which several TMC leaders including former ministers were arrested, Banerjee claimed that they were put behind bars to help the BJP win elections.
“There is one PMLA… You can have complaints against anyone and for that purpose, you collect evidence, talk to witnesses, prepare a chargesheet, and let the judiciary function in its own way. But keeping someone in jail year after year without any proof… you think of winning the election in this manner,” she said.
Stating that four children died after being buried by earth in a BSF trench at Chopra in North Dinajpur district recently, the TMC chief asked the BJP how many teams were sent there. “How many teams were sent when Dalits and SC-ST people were tortured? How many teams were sent after the Bilkis Banu case,” she asked, referring to the Sandeshkhali visit by the National Commission for Women and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes delegations.