ECI acts in WB: Report sought on Mamata, Basanti inspector suspended

The ECI has sought a report on West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's speech allegedly threatening CRPF. It also suspended a police inspector over violence in Basanti, where BJP's Biplab Deb accused TMC and "Jihadis" of orchestrating attacks.

ECI Seeks Report on Mamata Banerjee's Speech

The Election Commission of India on Friday asked the Chief Election Officer of West Bengal to submit a report on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's speech at Nandaprasad Girls' High School Ground, Naxalbari, Darjeeling Janasabha. ECI has claimed that in the video of her speech, CM threatened the CRPF personnel by asking all women and girls to be at the polling booths and, if necessary, use household kitchen equipment to deal with necessary situations.

Police Inspector Suspended Over Violence in Basanti

Earlier in the day, ahead of the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) suspended Inspector Avijit Paul, In-Charge of Basanti Police Station, with immediate effect. The suspension follows the violent incident on March 26 in the Basanti Bazar area under Basanti Police Station, Baruipur Police District, which resulted in injuries to several individuals, including police personnel.

"It has been observed that Insp. Avijit Paul, I/C Basanti PS, has failed to make adequate police arrangements in spite of having prior information regarding the public programme of two political parties. Further, the CAPF has been made available for the last few days. Despite this, he did not requisition CAPF for maintenance of law and order. This reflects serious negligence and dereliction of duty on his part," the ECI said in an order.

Violence broke out in the Basanti assembly constituency of South 24 Parganas district during the campaign of BJP candidate Bikash Sardar near Basanti Bazaar.

BJP Blames TMC for Attack

Criticising the incident, BJP MP Biplab Kumar Deb on Friday accused "Jihadis" and goons of orchestrating attacks.

Speaking to ANI, Deb claimed that a large number of identified assailants attacked the party's workers, and when law enforcement intervened, they too came under attack.

He further blamed the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) for creating an atmosphere of violence under the leadership of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. "A large number of Jihadis, whose names have been identified, attacked our workers. Later, when the forces arrived, they also attacked them. The empire of goons and Jihadis created under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal is the reason for this, which was seen in the Basanti market," he said.

This comes as the state is gearing up to conduct elections in two phases, on April 23 and April 29, with counting of votes for both phases scheduled for May 4.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)