JOIN USPolice could have fired on BJP supporters but refrained, says Mamata Banerjee
The police could have opened fire on the BJP protesters but attempted to control the situation in a restricted manner, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, a police van was set on fire and a senior police officer was brutally beaten on the street by a group of unruly men during the BJP’s march against alleged corruption in the Trinamool government.
The Chief Minister’s nephew and Trinamool’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee further added that had he been in place of the police officer facing such vandalism, he would have shot the culprits in the head.
Violent scenes with tussle between the protesting BJP supporters and police personnel were witnessed at different spots during the march. In central Kolkata, a police van was set on fire. An assistant commissioner of Kolkata Police was brutally attacked and is now admitted in a government hospital after being injured. The assailants, it’s being alleged, had political affiliation. The two incidents are being investigated.
The chief minister said that those who obstruct public work will not be tolerated. She alleged that as people were busy in pre-festival business, the protest ruined the same, and turned out to be harassment. Police could have fired with intent, but attempted to manage in a restricted and peaceful way, she claimed.
Banerjee said that many police personnel got injured, and people were brought in from outside for creating trouble. She added that there’s every right to protest in a republic, but in the name of an agitation, committing violence is incorrect, and antisocial activities don’t gel well with politics.
Abhishek Banerjee, who visited the injured officer in hospital, said that he salutes such officers who behaved with patience and tolerance, and it’s because of them that the city is the safest in the country.
The party’s national general secretary claimed that this instance of restraint is an answer for those who question what’s the change that has set in, in Bengal. Had police fired, the agitation would have paused in a minute. He alleged that the erstwhile CPI(M) supporters are now supporters of the BJP.
The public property is taxpayer’s money. “I told Debjit babu (the injured officer) that I salute you. You didn’t react. Had I been in your place, and had the police vehicle been set on fire in front of me, or police (personnel) were attacked, I would have shot here (pointing at forehead), in the head,” he said.