Firhad: Attack on a councillor outside home exposes cop intelligence failure
Times of India | 17 November 2024
Kolkata: Reacting to the assault on borough chairman Sushanta Ghosh, mayor and senior Trinamool leader Firhad Hakim questioned the role of the constabulary, citing an intelligence failure that could have imperilled Ghosh. "We need to question how a councillor could be attacked outside his home and the constabulary had no inkling about it. Enough is enough," said the mayor.
Trinamool also scrutinised the police's role in the attempted assassination. "While this appears to be an isolated incident, why should this occur in the first place," asked party's ex-Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh. "CM Mamata Banerjee has provided them (police) with everything requested for. From personnel to infrastructure, police have evolved substantially. Now they must deliver," Ghosh said. "Criminals are infiltrating from other states with weaponry to instigate violence here," said Ghosh.
The mayor said Sushanta was a valiant party soldier and such a craven act by the conspirators would fail to diminish his resolve. "We must remember that he took a bullet during the march to Writers' in 1993. What transpired on Friday is truly frightening for his family. When I spoke to Sushanta's wife, she was quivering in fear contemplating what might have happened had the bullets struck her husband," said Hakim. But he emphasised that seasoned politicians remained unfazed by petty criminals. "We know how to handle them," he added.
"How can criminals and arms enter Bengal despite repeated cautions by the CM? We have legitimate concerns regarding infiltration of professional assassins and large-scale weapons from neighbouring Bihar, Jharkhand and certain parts of UP. Where is police intelligence? Why can't they intercept them," Hakim said on Saturday.