Attack on Minister's convoy: Calcutta HC seeks report from Bengal govt within 48 hours

Besides directing the West Bengal government to submit the report by 12.30 p.m. on March 3, the division bench of Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj also directed the state government to submit the case diary in the matter to the court.

The court passed the directions after hearing a PIL filed by the leader of the opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on the attack on the convoy of Pramanik, the Union Minister of State for Home, last Saturday.

Adhikari's counsel claimed that the entire attack was pre-planned and instigated by the Trinamool Congress MLA from Dinhata, Udayan Guha, who is also the minister in- charge of the North Bengal Development Department.

"The goons attacked the convoy of the Union minister in a pre-planned manner. They hurled bricks, stones and crude bombs towards his convoy, damaging the vehicle in the process. He even faced life threat," Adhikari's counsel argued.

He also claimed that the police totally failed in bringing the situation under control on that day.

"So, let there be an initial probe by the CBI into the matter. After the incident, the CISF personnel deputed for the minister's security made an attempt to lodge an FIR at the local police station, which the police didn't agree to file. Instead, the police arrested 40 BJP workers in the matter," Adhikari's counsel said.

The counsel pointed out that as per protocol, the state government is responsible for the security of a Union minister.

"But in this case, the state government failed miserably. We want a CBI probe into the matter," Adhikari's counsel argued.

After hearing the arguments, the bench directed the state government to file a detailed report in the matter and submit it to the court along with the case diary by 12.30 p.m. on Friday.

--IANS src/arm

( 358 Words)

2023-03-01-19:52:03 (IANS)