Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar (left) with DGP Virendra (in uniform) and Additional Chief Secretary to the Governor, Satish Chandra Tewary, at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday. ExpressGovernor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday met Director General of Police (DGP) Virendra at Raj Bhavan and reportedly sought a report over the situation in Barrackpore following Sunday’s clash at Jagaddal in North 24 Parganas in which BJP MP Arjun Singh was injured.
“Director General of State Police Virendra met the Governor at Raj Bhavan at 11 am. The DG Virendra briefed the Governor on the law and order situation in Bhatpara, North 24 Parganas and the state in general. The meeting between the two lasted for one hour,” a release issued by the Raj Bhavan said.
This comes a day after the Governor had cut short his visit to Delhi and met the BJP MP at the hospital. Dhankar had also expressed concern over the law and order situation, saying “the state of West Bengal needs peaceful atmosphere”.
While the BJP MP had accused the Barrackpore Police Commissioner Manoj Verma of assaulting him with a baton, the police have denied the allegation.
The top brass of West Bengal Police have defended Verma’s action during Sunday’s clash and have accused the BJP MP of leading a mob “in a planned attack on the police”.
Meanwhile, Singh was discharged from a Kolkata hospital, where he was admitted with head injuries on Sunday.
After leaving the hospital, Singh went to meet the other injured BJP members in Belghoria. While leaving the hospital, he again accused Barrackpore Commissioner of Police (CP) Manoj Verma of trying to kill him.
“Manoj Verma has in advance got a medal from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over an order to kill me. I have been in politics for many years and have seen numerous road blockades and protests. But the way police acted on Sunday was unacceptable. It was evident that they had conspired to kill me. The Home Ministry and Lok Sabha Speaker have been informed about the incident,” Singh told reporters while leaving the hospital.
Singh also slammed ADG (Law and Order) Gyanwant Singh who had praised Police Commissioner Verma for his handling of the Sunday’s clash “with utter professionalism”.
“ADG (Law and Order) is a mad man. I don’t know how he became an IPS officer. Whatever he said was completely false,” said Singh.
On being asked about FIRs being lodged against him, Singh said, “Since the day I joined BJP, the Trinamool Congress has lodged nearly 47 cases against me. I am waiting for the day when it will hit century.” Singh claimed that he would soon file a complaint against the CM for “conspiring” to kill him.
Meanwhile, the situation in Barrackpore continued to remain tense on Tuesday. Shops and markets mostly remained shut. Police arrested more than 20 people following the violence.
Earlier, the police had said a total of four FIRs have been lodged at Jagaddal and Bhatpara police stations since Sunday.
MP Singh, his son Pawan and several others have been named in the FIRs, a police officer had said.
