The West Bengal Police on Thursday dismissed the allegations made by BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, who claimed that two Kashmiri men were involved in suspicious activities in Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district.
In a post on X, Baruipur police said the two persons in question are engineers from Madhya Pradesh exploring business opportunities in the state.
Earlier in the day, Adhikari had posted a photo of a wireless network system disc on X, alleging that two persons from Kashmir were living in Baruipur and engaging in “suspicious” activities. Adhikari, who shared the address of the flat where the two men live, alleged that they had “installed a NanoBeam 2AC compact and high-performance wireless network bridge at the rooftop”, and demanded NIA probe into it.
In an official statement, the Baruipur police said the two persons —one Hindu and one Muslim—had installed a simple Jio Fiber network on the terrace of their rented flat in Baruipur and dismissed the suspicion of the BJP leader of any suspicious activities.
“The two individuals, one of them a Hindu and the other a Muslim, both from Madhya Pradesh, rented a flat in Baruipur about three weeks ago. Engineers by profession, they were exploring business opportunities in pisciculture in West Bengal through a local friend. There is a simple Jio Fiber network in their flat which is used by numerous citizens, with nothing suspicious about it,” Baruipur Police stated on X.
“It is unfortunate that some people choose to disseminate such inaccurate and potentially inciteful information through social media, instead of communicating it to a state or central agency. We expect citizens to exercise restraint and responsibility while using public platforms without jumping to any conclusions,” the police said.
They further emphasised the importance of proper channels for reporting suspicious activity. “Information of this kind shared through social media handles defeats the very purpose. It also merits mention that any kind of public insinuation against any individual without verifying the facts is legally punishable,” the statement added.
Speaking to The Indian Express earlier in the day, Superintendent of Police (Baruipur) Prakash Chandra Dhali said that police began a probe soon after Adhikari made the allegations in a post on X. A police team questioned the two persons and verified their antecedents. “The two are residents of Madhya Pradesh. They came to Kolkata a year ago. One is a civil engineer and the other is a computer engineer. Both had passed engineering in 2016 from Bhopal. They rented a 2 BHK in Baruipur and installed a Jio Fiber for internet connection on April 22,” the SP said.
“They have taken 9 acre of land in Bishnupur for a fishing business. Which is why they wanted to stay nearby. We have verified from all angles, and all the information given by them have been found to be true,” the SP added. It is a false claim that they are Kashmiris.”
As per the police, they are also enquiring why it took so long for the owner to prepare a rent agreement. “There is a hibernation period as the rent agreement sometimes takes time. However, we are enquiring about that too,” added Dhali.