Bengal: Suvendu in Sandeshkhali after HC Division Bench order; Brinda stopped
Earlier in the day, police had stopped Adhikari from visiting Sandeshkhali despite an order from a Single Bench of Calcutta High Court
After high drama on Tuesday (February 20) morning, senior BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, reached Sandeskhali after being granted permission by a Division Bench of Calcutta High Court to visit the restive area in North 24-Parganas district.
Earlier in the day, police had stopped Adhikari from visiting Sandeshkhali despite an order from a Single Bench of Calcutta High Court. The police said prohibitory orders were still imposed in the troubled area and the state government had moved the Division Bench against Monday’s Single Bench order allowing Adhikari and fellow BJP MLA Sankar Ghosh to visit Sandeshkhali.
Suvendu in Sandeshkhali
“The police have now allowed me and fellow BJP MLA Sankar Ghosh to visit Sandeshkhali, following the order by a Division Bench of Calcutta High Court,” Adhikari said as he was escorted by the law enforcers to Dhamakhali ferry ghat, from where he crossed Kalindi River by boat to reach Sandeshkhali.
At Sandeshkhali, he was seen being greeted by locals, including women.
Court’s conditions
The Division Bench, presided by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam, refused to interfere with the Single Bench order that allowed Adhikari and Ghosh to visit Sandeshkhali on Tuesday. The Single Bench had directed the BJP leader not to make any provocative speech or create any law-and-order situation in Sandeshkhali.
The Division Bench, also comprising Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, directed the BJP leader to ensure that none of the supporters or people belonging to the party accompany them, except security personnel, who have been deployed for them.
Earlier in the day, the BJP MLA from Nandigram, along with party supporters, staged a sit-in at Dhamakhali in protest against the state government’s move to stop him from going to Sandeshkhali. This was the third time in the past eight days that Adhikari had been stopped from visiting the troubled zone.
Fight for justice: Karat
Senior CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat was also stopped on her way to Sandeshkhali. Karat said she was told by a police officer that her presence in Sandeshkhali will lead to breach of peace there.
The CPI(M) leader was stopped at Dhamakhali ferry ghat. “Breach of peace occurred when women were called to the local TMC offices and subjected to sexual assault; now it is a fight for justice,” she told reporters at Dhamakhali.
Sandeshkhali trouble
A large number of women in Sandeshkhali have accused Trinamool Congress strongman Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters of grabbing their land and sexually assaulting them.
Shajahan has been absconding after a mob, allegedly affiliated with him, attacked Enforcement Directorate officials who had gone to search his premises in connection with a ration scam on January 5.
(With agency inputs)
