BJP team visits West Bengal town after killing of two youths
Raigunj (West Bengal), Sep 23 : Situation remained tense at Islampur in Bengal's North Dinajpur district even on Sunday, three days after the alleged killing of two youths during a clash between agitating students and the police over the recruitment of new teachers at a local school.
A BJP delegation, comprising of state party leaders Mukul Roy, Locket Chhatterjee and Pratap Banerjee, met the family members of the deceased at Islampur's Daribhit village on Sunday and demanded those involved in the killings to be immediately found out and punished.
The saffron outfit has called for a 12-hour shutdown across the state on September 26, claiming the two youths were shot dead by police during the clash and demanded a CBI probe into the matter.
"The police brutally killed the youths and now the state government and its ministers are trying to cover up facts. The locals are clearly saying that police opened fire on the agitating students when the situation went out of hand. The police personnel responsible for the deaths must be identified and punished," said state BJP women wing president Locket Chatterjee.
Earlier in the day, the locals stopped the police from entering the village and held a protest before local MLA Kanhaiyalal Agarwal and Goalpokhar legislator Gulam Rabbani, demanding a CBI probe.
"We want CBI investigation. We want to know why my son was killed. We have no faith in the state police any more. They are trying to hide facts," said the father of Rajesh Sarkar, one of the deceased youth.
The state ruling party Trinamool Congress, however, blames the BJP and RSS for the clash and deaths accusing them of "indulging in politics of killing." It the party will do everything to fail the shutdown called by the saffron outfit.
"The BJP's attempt to create a political unrest will fail. We will hold protest meetings and rallies throughout the state against the BJP's bandh call," said Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Cahtterjee.
One of the youths was allegedly shot dead during the clash outside Daribhit High School premises on Thursday while the other youth, also hit by a bullet that afternoon, died in the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital on Friday.
Both the deceased were former students of the school where the clash took place.
According to the police and the local sources, the situation got heated up last Wednesday over the recruitment of three teachers of Urdu and Sanskrit languages in the school while the students had been demanding teachers in literature and science subjects.
The new teachers were stopped from entering the school by the agitating students on Thursday afternoon, who later blocked the road and clashed with the police when they arrived on the spot.
Villagers claimed that the two youths were killed in police firing, whereas the police maintained no bullets were fired by them and claimed that miscreants armed with guns, bombs and sticks attacked them outside the school.
North Dinajpur Superintendent of Police Sumit Kumar had said members of the mob were carrying bombs and arms, and that 14 policemen were injured in the clash.
Seven people, including some BJP supporters, have been detained.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is currently on a 12-day tour to Europe, said the state government will not allow any shutdown to take place and accused the BJP and the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh of engineering unrest by murdering people.
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Quarrying conducted on government sites in Shirva, Karkala; Police file case against two
Karkala: In two separate cases of raids on government land in the taluk, Karkala police have registered cases against two men for allegedly carrying out illegal quarrying on government-owned sites.
Sub-inspector Lohith Kumar C.S. of Shirva Police Station conducted a raid on government land in Survey No. 181/1, Jarkala, in the taluk. The police team, including the SI and personnel Kishore and Anwar Ali, found two individuals working at the site; however, the men reportedly fled upon seeing the police vehicle. The site was confirmed to be used for illegal quarrying.
During the investigation, police found that one Surendra had been conducting quarrying activities on the site for an extended period. The team seized two iron crowbars, one iron rod with a wooden handle, two iron rods, and one iron chain from the spot.
A case has been registered against Surendra under Section 303(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 4(1-a) and 21(4) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.
In the second case, Karkala Town Police SI Shivakumar S.R. led a raid on a site in Survey No. 245 in Eralpadi village of Jarkala, following a tip-off about illegal quarrying. Although no workers were present during the raid, the investigation revealed that a person named Ramesh had been conducting quarrying at the site without permits and for personal gain.
Karkala Town Police have registered a case against Ramesh and are continuing their investigation.
