In a letter sent on Wednesday to the state chief electoral officer, the BJP said, “This is to bring to your kind attention about the attack perpetrated on the candidate set up by the Bharatiya Janata Party from 33 Jhargram (Schedule Tribe) Parliamentary Constituency Dr Pranata Tudu on 16 April 2024 at around 1 P.M. at Village: Rohini under the jurisdiction of the Sankrail Police Station.”
According to the party, Tudu was in Rohoni village in Jhargram district when people associated with the ruling Trinamool Congress started heckling him. “Thereafter, the miscreants started pelting stones at Dr. Tudu and attacking him with bamboo sticks and brickbats. In the milieu, Dr. Tudu was grievously hurt, including injuries to his head. Dr. Tudu was immediately taken to the Bhangarh Hospital for treatment,” it said in the letter.
The BJP claimed the incident took place in the presence of officer-in-charge of the Sankrail police station, Dhiraj Mahato, who allegedly did not try to stop the attackers or help to take the injured to hospital.
“It is pertinent to note that though the Police Authorities have registered a FIR based on a complaint filed by the local BJP unit. However, the miscreants have not been booked under stringent provisions of the law and the police authorities have tried to whitewash the situation and play it down by only doing a formality of registering a FIR citing petty crimes,” it said.
“We demand such errant officers should be transferred with immediate effect to posts which are not directly or indirectly related to the elections [pending] a disciplinary enquiry for dereliction of duty on their part,” read the letter.
The TMC, meanwhile, rejected the charge and claimed that its workers were outnumbered by those of the BJP. “BJP workers were in large numbers while there were only seven to eight workers of our party at that spot. It is them who attacked our workers but they are making claims to the contrary. We condemn such politics,” said TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh.
Jhargram will go to the polls on May 25.