West Bengal: A six-member BJP team, constituted to probe the alleged incidents of sexual harassment and violence against women in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali, on Friday tried to visit the troubled zones but were stoppped by the police.
Speaking to media after being stopped by the police, BJP MP Locket Chatterjee demanded a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the Sandeshkhali violence and condemned the attack on party's state unit chief Sukanta Mazumdar.
"Those who have committed this atrocity will have to come forward, there should be an NIA investigation. They should be given the death penalty, and nothing else. We condemn the attack on Sukanta Mazumdar...."
Union Minister and member of the delegation visiting Sandeshkhali, Annapurna Devi said, "We are here to meet the victims and to give justice to them. Today, the way police are standing here with promptness to stop us if this promptness was shown to arrest Sheikh Shahjahan and his goons, then this situation would not arise.."
Bengal BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said that while saying that he has no "detailed information" about BJP national president JP Nadda's visit as earlier, some reports suggested that the party chief might also visit the state to take a stock of the situation.
Sources said that the six-member team will review overall "ground situation" at Sandeshkhali and accordingly, provide a report to Nadda on the matter.
Union Minister Annapurna Devi has been made the convenor of the high-level committee. Other members of the committee are Union Minister Pratima Bhowmik, MP Sunita Duggal, MP Kavita Patidar, MP Sangeeta Yadav and Brij Lal (Rajya Sabha MP and former Director General of Police of Uttar Pradesh).
Meanwhile, a four-member team of BJP’s legislative party in West Bengal assembly led by the Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, which started for Sandeshkhali on Thursday afternoon, was stopped at a distance of 6 km away from the troubled zone, citing Section 144 imposed in the area as the reason.
"We want to go there and speak to the local villagers without breaching any provision of Section 144," Adhikari told the police.
