Ahead of the 5th phase of Vidhan Sabha polls in the State of West Bengal, an alleged audio clip of a conversation between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Partha Pratim Roy has appeared on social media.
On Friday (April 16), journalist Payal Mehta shared the alleged audio clip on Twitter. In the said clip, Mamata Banerjee could be heard threatening to jail central armed forces for gunning down four miscreants from the TMC, who had tried to snatch their weapons. Banerjee was heard telling Roy to organise a political rally with the dead bodies in a bid to stir public sympathy and secure votes amidst the ongoing polls.
“Partha, cast your vote first and then we will sit and decide. I will get everyone arrested, including CRPF. Keep all the dead bodies. We will take out a rally with the corpses. Tomorrow, there will be a rally with the dead bodies. Tell their families that the dead bodies can’t be handed over to them. Everything will be fine. Cast your vote and keep calm. They are doing this so that you cannot cast your vote,” Mamata Banerjee said.
.@BJP4Bengal releases audio clip of @MamataOfficial with Partha Pratik, TMC candidate from Sitalkuchi where Mamata allegedly tried to fix CAPF & SP etc..wanted to take out procession of dead bodies to her political advantage, strong allegations by @amitmalviya pic.twitter.com/YE8czmOHZB
— Payal Mehta/પાયલ મેહતા/ पायल मेहता/ পাযেল মেহতা (@payalmehta100) April 16, 2021
She then inquired about the political affiliation of those who were shot by the CRPF. On learning that the deceased are workers of her own party, Mamata Banerjee advised Partha Pratim Roy to lodge a First Information Report (FIR) with the help of lawyers. “File an FIR. Hire a lawyer and don’t do it yourself. I will tell the family members to file FIR after the election. Even police won’t take any statement of the family members now,” she added.
The TMC supremo then said, “We have to file a strong case in consultation with a lawyer. So that everyone can be framed, including their command zone, SP and even the IC. Now, keep calm and vote. Keep strength to our polling agents. Go to the booths and tell people that the security personnel did this so that people are afraid to cast their vote. (Tell that) they (BJP) are doing this to implement NPR and build detention camps.”
BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta commented on the audio, saying that it shows “her utter cynicism & desire to create a political narrative over dead bodies”.
Mob attacks CISF in Sitalkuchi after Mamata Banerjee urged ‘gherao’
A mob attacked the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) soldiers during the fourth phase of elections in West Bengal after TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee asked her followers to gherao the central forces. Four TMC workers were killed after the CISF fired on the violent mob. As per reports, the incident took place at the Jorpatki area of the Mathabhanga block in the Sitalkuchi Legislative Assembly of Cooch Behar district.
Cooch Behar SP defended the CISF action against the lumpen elements, saying that the action was an act of ‘self-defense’. He said that a mob of 300-350 men had attacked the CISF team and tried to snatch their arms that forced the team to open fire on the miscreants. The deceased have been identified as Monirujjaman (28), Hamidul Miyan (30), Nur Alma Miyan (21) and Samiul Haque (20).
As per multiple reports, four people died after central forces open-fired in a polling booth in self-defence, while at another place one person died after miscreants opened fire. Sitalkuchi was on the boil since early morning. According to reports, bombs were hurled outside the booth. Some groups had also opened fire while the police managed to recover bombs from the area, India Today reported.