Dakshin Dinajpur (West Bengal) [India], May 21 : Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar on Wednesday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of lying about the Murshidabad violence, following the release of a fact-finding report by a committee set up by the Calcutta High Court.
The report, which probed the April 11 violence in Murshidabad, allegedly implicates a Trinamool Congress councillor and points to police inaction. Majumdar claimed that the Chief Minister's earlier statement blaming "outsiders" for the incident was false.
"The report of the committee formed by the High Court implicates local councillor Mehboob Alam and the TMC government. The report clearly shows that Mamata Banerjee lied about outsiders being responsible. She must apologise to the people of West Bengal," Majumdar told reporters in Dakshin Dinajpur.
On May 6, CM Banerjee had said, "This incident has been orchestrated and was well planned. Those who provoked this violence will not be tolerated. I am not against anyone, but I am against riots," during her visit to the affected areas.
According to the report, as many as 113 houses were severely damaged in Betbona village. It stated that the local police were "inactive and absent" during the violence. "The West Bengal Police did not respond. The villagers of Betbona called at 4 pm on Friday and 4 pm on Saturday, but police did not pick up the call," the report added.
The fact-finding team also noted that grocery stores, hardware shops, textile shops, and essential documents were destroyed in Dhuliyan. The main attack reportedly occurred after 2:30 p.m. on April 11 in Dhuliyan town. A shopping mall in Ward no 12 was looted and shut down.
The report also described the brutal killings of Haragovinda Das (74) and his son Chandan Das (40). "They broke down the main door of the house and took her son (Chandan Das) and took her husband [Haragovinda Das] and hit them with an axe in the back. A man was waiting there until they died," the report stated.
The fact-finding committee included Joginder Singh (Registrar, Law, National Human Rights Commission), Satya Arnab Ghosal (Member Secretary, West Bengal Legal Services Authority), and Saugata Chakraborty (Registrar, West Bengal Judicial Service).