Kolkata: Shop owner lodges FIR after party takes over wall
Dwaipayan Ghosh | TNN | Apr 7, 2019, 10:13 IST
KOLKATA: 75-year-old Sunil Kanti Majumdar and his son Abhra, who own a shop at the Ganguly Bagan crossing close to Jadavpur, were impressed when BJP supporters recently them and sought their permission to paint graffiti on the shop wall for the ensuing elections. Even when the father and son went out of Kolkata from March 29 to April 1, the BJP workers did not go ahead with the wall writing, but waited patiently for the two to return and give them a written permission.
“However, on returning, when we went to the shop on April 2, we found that the CPM had taken over the entire wall and written the name of their candidate, Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya. I contacted the local leaders and requested them to wipe the wall clean. They listened to me but took no action. On Friday, I lodged a complaint a the Netaji Nagar police station,” Majumdar said.
He told TOI this was not the first time that he had had a run-in with the local party leadership. “I have earlier worked with a political party and so, I became a soft target,” Majumdar claimed. “I am renovating my shop, Mina Enterprise, and turning it into a mobile repair store. Located at a prime location, I wanted to give it a sleek look. But all the effort has now gone down the drain.
Cops at the Netaji Nagar police station said it had registered an FIR under Section 188 of IPC and also informed the election commission about the incident. Arguments and even skirmishes between the Trinamool and the CPM and BJP have not been unheard of, when it came to taking over walls for graffiti. But this is the first time that a senior citizen has lodged a police complaint. “I will take help of the EC’s Suvidha app as well,” said Majumdar. “Unknown supporters of CPM made wall writing on behalf CPM without the permission of the shop owner on the shop wall of the complainant situated at Mina Enterprise on Raja SC Mallick Road at Ganguly Bagan and violated the statutory provision of law under Model Code of Conduct designed by the Election Commission of India,” the FIR stated.
The local CPM leadership had said they would look into the objections. “As a rule, we never write on walls without permission. Let us check what transpired at that spot,” said a local committee member on Saturday morning. By evening, the CPM office bearers claimed they had whitewashed the wall.
“However, on returning, when we went to the shop on April 2, we found that the CPM had taken over the entire wall and written the name of their candidate, Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya. I contacted the local leaders and requested them to wipe the wall clean. They listened to me but took no action. On Friday, I lodged a complaint a the Netaji Nagar police station,” Majumdar said.
He told TOI this was not the first time that he had had a run-in with the local party leadership. “I have earlier worked with a political party and so, I became a soft target,” Majumdar claimed. “I am renovating my shop, Mina Enterprise, and turning it into a mobile repair store. Located at a prime location, I wanted to give it a sleek look. But all the effort has now gone down the drain.
Cops at the Netaji Nagar police station said it had registered an FIR under Section 188 of IPC and also informed the election commission about the incident. Arguments and even skirmishes between the Trinamool and the CPM and BJP have not been unheard of, when it came to taking over walls for graffiti. But this is the first time that a senior citizen has lodged a police complaint. “I will take help of the EC’s Suvidha app as well,” said Majumdar. “Unknown supporters of CPM made wall writing on behalf CPM without the permission of the shop owner on the shop wall of the complainant situated at Mina Enterprise on Raja SC Mallick Road at Ganguly Bagan and violated the statutory provision of law under Model Code of Conduct designed by the Election Commission of India,” the FIR stated.
The local CPM leadership had said they would look into the objections. “As a rule, we never write on walls without permission. Let us check what transpired at that spot,” said a local committee member on Saturday morning. By evening, the CPM office bearers claimed they had whitewashed the wall.
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