TMC delegation demands BJP MP Arjun Singh's arrest

A delegation of Trinamool Congress lawmakers on Friday held a 'peace march' in trouble-torn Bhatpara and Kankinara areas Friday and demanded immediate arrest of BJP MP Arjun Singh, alleging he along with his supporters was creating unrest. The delegation led by senior TMC leader Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Subrata Mukherjee visited the two areas in North 24 Parganas district, a week after a BJP team, led by Lok Sabha member SS Ahluwalia met those affected by violence here and alleged that local police was acting in a "partisan" manner.

The TMC lawmakers, including state ministers Firhad Hakim, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Sujit Bose, Bratya Basu, Purnendu Bose, TMC district unit president and minister Jyotipriyo Mullick and government chief whip Nirmal Ghosh, held a meeting with the police commissioner of Barrackpore Commissionerate, Manoj Verma. Violence broke out in Bhatpara-Kankinara area after the results of Lok Sabha elections were declared and Arjun Singh, who had defected from TMC to BJP before the rolls, won the Barrackpore constituency defeating his nearest rival Dinesh Trivedi of TMC.

The disturbance in the area, which is dotted with jute mills and draws labourers from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, claimed two lives on June 20. Verma later said, "We are trying our best to instil confidence among the people (of the area). Arms and ammunition are being recovered and culprits are being booked. Compensation announced by the government is also being distributed."

Hakim, who is the state urban development minister and Kolkata mayor, told reporters, "The communal BJP is trying to foment trouble in the area. People are being brought from other states by BJP to create tension and disturbance." "We demand the immediate arrest of Arjun Singh and his accomplices. He is a criminal," he alleged, adding, "We have asked the police to arrest those bringing in arms and bombs from outside."

Hakim said, "People in the area are in difficulty. Bombs had been exploded in many areas and many people are still homeless. We have talked to some of them." The locals spoke to the visiting TMC leaders and complained to them against hooliganism in the area.

Hakim said the delegation will visit all the affected areas and talk to the people. "Those guilty of instigating violence will be brought to book." The state government, he said, will provide jobs to the next of the kin of those killed in the violence in the area since the Lok Sabha polls and compensation would be given to people whose houses have been damaged.

Asserting that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would resist every effort to create unrest in the state, Hakim said the delegation would visit the area again after a week when the restoration of peace is complete to take stock of the situation. Mallick said the TMC wants all people to live peacefully in the area.

The delegation will submit a report to Banerjee, the leaders said. A group led veteran actor and filmmaker Aparna Sen had on Thursday visited Bhatpara.

Sen along with thespians Kaushik Sen, Chandan Sen and others marched from Kankinara to Bhatpara on Thursday afternoon and met the local people, besides visiting family members of Dharamveer Shaw, one of the two persons killed in firing allegedly by the police on June 20. "The fight between the TMC and the BJP is on since the time of the (Lok Sabha) elections. It has communally polarised people. But this is unacceptable," Sen had said.