Man arrested for questioning Mamata

A person, who publicly questioned West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee about the farmers’ plight and her government’s policy towards them on Wednesday during her rally at Belpahari in west Midnapore district, was arrested on Saturday.

“Shiladitya Chowdhury was arrested on Saturday morning and booked for disrupting a public rally, entering into a high-security zone and assaulting police personnel,” Superintendent of Police of Jhargram police district Bharati Ghosh told Deccan Herald.

On her visit to the Maoist-affected Belpahari on Wednesday, Banerjee was addressing a public rally when Chowdhury stood up and asked her: “Farmers are dying because they have no money. Empty promises are not enough. What are you doing for farmers?” 

The chief minister branded Chowdhury a ‘Maoist’ and asked the police to arrest him. 

The police, detained the man and later released him after interrogation but only to arrest him on Saturday morning again. 

“It is another example of intolerance of the chief minister. It is highly unjustified that a common man who wanted to say something about his problem could be arrested in such a way. The government is not ready to tolerate any kind of criticism. They are even taking away people’s right to speak,” senior CPM leader Mohammed Salim said.