Parents of RG Kar hospital victim doing politics by maligning CM: West Bengal minister
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim said on Sunday that the parents of the RG Kar hospital victim are doing politics by maligning Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
A day earlier, Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh alleged that the parents of the R G Kar hospital victim are being "used" by the forces which want to "defame, malign and plot conspiracy against the Mamata Banerjee government".
Joining his Trinamool Congress colleague Ghosh, Hakim said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been elected by popular mandate and not by "those who are using the grief-stricken parents as puppets.
Replying to a question by reporters on the sidelines of a Republic Day function in the city, the Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said, "I share the extreme pain and anguish of the parents. I share their reservations about the way the CBI investigated the case after taking it over from Kolkata Police.
"But when they (the RG Kar victim's parents) target the CM and malign her without any reason, I have to say they are exceeding the brief. They are not supposed to speak on the governance of the CM who came to power by popular mandate and not by the wish of forces who are using the parents as puppets for their agenda," the minister said.
Hakim, who is also the mayor of Kolkata, alleged the parents are doing politics over the issue and playing in the hands of vested interests. "They should not mouth scripted lines like parrots," he said.
The strong reactions by the two ruling party leaders were preceded by comments of the parents of the deceased post-graduate trainee doctor.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee cannot disown the responsibility for the alleged attempt of the police and hospital authorities to destroy evidence of the rape and murder of their daughter, the parents claimed on Friday.
They attempted to shield the “main conspirators” behind the crime, while the CBI failed to bring to book all the perpetrators and overlooked the larger conspiracy aspect, the parents claimed on Friday.
Kunal Ghosh on Saturday said, "Please don't let yourself (parents) be used by any party with a vested interest.
In response to Ghosh's comment, the father of the deceased medic told reporters on Saturday, "We have not been used by any quarter. We have lost everything. We only wish that justice is done to our daughter before our death.
"Yes, we think this CM has utterly failed. We have every right to say whatever we feel like," the father later said at a meeting organised by 'Abhaya manch' a platform demanding justice for the raped-murdered R G Kar medic.
The deceased medic’s mother told a Bengali TV channel on Friday, "Everyone - Kolkata Police, the hospital administration and people's representatives from the TMC - played an active role to hush up the ghastly incident so that truth does not come to light.
The body of the 31-year-old post-graduate trainee was found in a semi-naked state in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 last year.
The trial court on January 20 sentenced Sanjay Roy, the lone convict, to life imprisonment till death in the rape-murder case.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
