Dare CBI to arrest me if there is corruption proof: Abhishek Banerjee
Bankura (WB), May 19: TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, who has been called by CBI to appear at its Kolkata office on Saturday as part of its probe into the school jobs scam, dared the central agency to arrest him if it has any proof of corruption or misconduct against him.
Banerjee accused the BJP of "using" the central agency to stop his ongoing mass outreach campaign as the saffron party was "afraid of the public support" for the programme.
"I will not bow my head before anyone apart from the masses. The BJP is afraid of the public support for the mass outreach campaign. CBI has summoned me, as they (BJP) want this mass outreach campaign to stop," he said while addressing a road show here.
Standing atop a vehicle, the TMC's national general secretary thanked people for their "overwhelming love and support".
"I dare the CBI to arrest me if they have any proof of corruption against me. They have been probing many cases in Bengal for the last several years. They should arrest me if they have any proof against me," he said.
Banerjee said he has temporarily suspended his mass outreach campaign - Trinamool Nabojowar (Trinamool New Wave), to join the probe and will resume it again from Bankura on Monday.
"Despite not being given even a day's prior notice, I will still abide by it (CBI's missive asking him to appear) as I have done no wrong," he said.
TMC leader criticized the CBI for not summoning BJP leaders accused of corruption.
"A person was caught on camera taking bribes, but the CBI never summons him as he has joined the BJP. You can loot, take bribes and commit crimes; you won't be touched once you join the BJP, as it is now a safe haven for thieves," he said while referring to the Narada scam, which the CBI is also probing.
Reacting to his remarks, the BJP dubbed the allegations as baseless.
"The BJP has nothing to do with the CBI probe. If he has nothing to hide, why is he making such allegations," BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said.
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by the Trinamool Congress national general secretary seeking a recall of a previous order of the court, which said that investigative agencies such as the CBI and the ED could interrogate him in the teacher recruitment scam.
Leading the mass outreach programme "Trinamool-e Nabajowar" (new wave in Trinamool) from the front, Banerjee has been crisscrossing the entire state from April 25 and will continue it till the middle of June seeking feedback from the masses on candidates and party policies.
He has so far covered over 2000 Km across ten districts.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
19-yr-old woman found hanging from tree in UP village; juvenile held
Lucknow/Pratapgarh (UP) (PTI): Police have apprehended a 16-year-old boy for his alleged involvement in the rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman whose body was found hanging from a tree in a village here, officials said on Monday.
Additional Superintendent of Police (West), Brijnandan Rai, said that the body of a 19-year-old woman was found hanging from a tree in an orchard in the Manikpur police station area on Sunday morning. A post-mortem examination subsequently confirmed that she had been raped.
Police registered a case against unidentified persons under sections 103(1) (punishment for murder) and 70(1) (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and initiated an investigation.
During the course of the investigation, the police found that the deceased was in contact with a juvenile who was also her relative.
Acting on this information, during a joint checking operation, sub-inspector Amit Kumar Singh of Manikpur police station and SOG In-charge Amit Kumar Chaurasia, along with their team, apprehended the 16-year-old near the Lehdari Ganga River bridge.
The search for other accused persons is ongoing, police said.
According to the police, the woman had gone to sleep after dinner on Saturday night but was found hanging in an orchard nearly 400 metres away from her home the following morning.
Additional Superintendent of Police (West), Brijnandan Rai, had earlier said that the circumstances suggest foul play.
"The victim's slippers and undergarments were recovered 50 metres away from the spot where the body was found. There are visible injury marks on her body," Rai said.
While locals have alleged that the woman was murdered after being raped, the ASP said that it is "prima facie a case of murder."
"Based on the complaint filed by the victim's brother, a case of murder has been registered against unidentified persons," the officer added.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, in a post on X in Hindi on Monday, said, "The news of the heinous murder of a Dalit daughter in Pratapgarh is deeply tragic and condemnable."
"The question remains: why does the spate of murders of 'PDA daughters' continue unabated in Uttar Pradesh? Are the BJP government's claims regarding women's safety merely hollow rhetoric, or is there, in fact, discrimination even in the provision of security for women?" he said.
"Whenever the 'wandering Honourable (ghumantu maananiye)' finds a moment of respite from election campaigning, he should cast a glance at the plight of the daughters of his own Uttar Pradesh. In any case, apart from injustice and oppression, no sister, daughter, or mother of this state holds any hope from you," Yadav added.
