Bengal Guv on way to restive Sandeshkhali; police claim entire area peaceful

Kolkata, Feb 12 (PTI) West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Monday morning reached Kolkata from Kerala and straightaway left for Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district, where local women were staging protests against alleged harassment and torture by TMC leaders.

The governor has already sought a comprehensive report on the Sandeshkhali situation from the state government.

“When I heard about shocking and shattering incidents of Sandeshkhali, I cut short my visit to Kerala. I am going to Sandeskhali and want to see it myself what the real sandesh (message) from the gullies (lanes) of Sandeshkhali,” Bose said after arriving at the airport here.

The governor returned to the state this morning to visit the “troubled spot” of Sandeshkhali. He had gone to the southern state to attend the Bengal Festival.

Bose has also held discussions with top officials of the central armed police force and the chief vigilance commissioner of the Centre, an official said.

Senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh expressed his apprehension on whether the governor would be “allowed” to visit the troubled areas of Sandeshkhali to review the situation there.

He also said the governor might be shown black flags on his way to Sandeshkhali and his party colleagues, who are scheduled to go there during the day, would face blockades.

“He (Governor) is a sensitive man and knows that people are being tortured there. I fear he may be shown black flags. His predecessor Jagdeep Dhankhar faced several such incidents,” Ghosh told reporters here this morning.

A larger number of women in Sandeshkhali held protests in the last few days, alleging that local TMC leader Sheikh Shajahan and his “gang” captured swathes of land by force, besides sexually harassing them.

They demanded the arrest of Shajahan who has been absconding since last month after a team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that went to raid his house in an alleged ration scam was attacked by a mob.

Ghosh also said, “Today my party colleagues are going to Sandeshkhali. I do not know how far they will be able to proceed. The government is trying to suppress the Sandeshkhali incidents.”

A BJP delegation led by Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of opposition in the assembly, is scheduled to visit Sandeshkhali on Monday.

Adhikari had also alleged that human rights have been violated there.

Meanwhile, police said that the situation in Sandeshkhali remained “peaceful” and nobody would be allowed to disrupt the law and order there.

“The governor is going to Sadeshkhali. We have taken all sorts of precautionary measures. The entire area is peaceful. Now, no untoward incident has been reported there. We will not allow anybody to disrupt the law and order situation there and will take strict action against those who violate the law,” a senior police officer said.

Asked whether they would allow the BJP MLAs to enter Sandeshkhali, the officer said that since prohibitory orders are currently imposed in the area, police would strictly follow the provisions of the law.