West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that there was an attempt to kill Barrackpore Police Commissioner Manoj Verma. “Had I not seen the video, I wouldn’t have known,” Banerjee said at a press conference in the state administrative headquarters, Nabanna.
“There was an attempt to shoot and kill him. I wouldn’t have known if I had not watched the video,” she said. However, she did not mention which video she was referring to, and when the incident took place. Banerjee said, without mentioning names, that every day there were use of bombs, firearms, threats and abuses and now a letter had been written to the state DGP making some allegations. “When good work is done, then no letter is written,” Banerjee rued, adding that there were complaints of assault every day. “Why complaint of assault when no assault has taken place?” she asked, adding that “people know everything”.
“Every day, bombs are being hurled, there is firing from some house, and attempts to attack our police,” she said. “There are abuses and threats.”
While Banerjee did not mention names, it was perhaps directed at Barrackpore Bharatiya Janata Party MP Arjun Singh. Once part of the Trinamool Congress, Singh had switched over to the BJP on being denied a ticket by Trinamool Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He won from the Barrackpore seat in 2019. For the past one year, Barrackpore has been on the boil, with incidents of clashes between Trinamool and BJP workers being reported frequently. There have been attacks on police, roadblocks, blocking of railway tracks, bombing, firing and bandhs, and normal life has been affected in the area due to political turmoil.
In September 2019, West Bengal Police had said that Barrackpore BJP MP Arjun Singh and his son had “provoked” his supporters to attack the police. The police had alleged that Singh’s supporters attacked the police in Jagaddal area and the Barrackpore police commissioner was also injured in the clash. A pistol was snatched and a bomb aiming at police was thrown from the roof of Arjun Singh’s house aiming at police, according to an official statement of the West Bengal Police last year. Arjun Singh on the other hand, sporting a bandage on his head, had alleged that Verma had attacked him.
A few days ago, Singh’s house was searched in connection with an alleged financial irregularities case amounting to Rs 11 crore involving the Bhatpara municipality and a local cooperative bank.
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