Speaking to mediapersons at Nabanna, the state secretariat, Additional Director General (Law and Order), West Bengal Police, Manoj Verma said: “It (people taking the law into their hands) is an issue. We have discussed this with our field officers (police officers who work at the police station level) and have given them specific guidelines.”

Reiterating the police’s commitment to taking stringent action against any attempt to disrupt law and order or engage in criminal activities, the ADG said that police have arrested six persons in connection with the videos of assault that have surfaced in North 24 Parganas involving local TMC strongman Jayant Singh and his aides.

“Among those seen in the viral video, six persons have been arrested. The rest have been identified. They will also be arrested very soon,” he said.

Chief Adviser to the Chief Minister, Alapan Bandopadhyay, who also addressed the mediapersons said: “The incident at Taltala Club in Ariadaha under Belgharia Police Station (North 24 Parganas) has stirred discussions. First, the incident took place in March, 2021, that is three years ago. The assaulted person whose picture is being propagated is a male and not female as found by police’s technical analysis, though all forms of assault are equally condemnable.”

Speaking about Jayant Singh who has been arrested, he said: “Since 2016, the accused Jayanta Singh has been repeatedly arrested — at least five times.”