JOIN USWill CBI intrude washrooms next, asks Mamata Banerjee
The visit by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) teams to several municipalities in West Bengal, on Wednesday, apparently, irked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who in a public function questioned if the agency will now intrude into the washrooms. Banerjee reacted to the development while attending a programme for distribution of cheques to persons affected in the Balasore train accident.
“Hence, would the entry be into the bathroom? Ask! The intrusion would be into the washroom, hereafter. That’s the only thing left,” Banerjee said. The central agency representatives, information suggests, went to the municipalities, and to the state’s urban development department, in connection with alleged irregularities in municipal recruitments.
The Bengal chief minister, however, observed a connection between the Balasore railway accident probe, and the development in Kolkata.
“I had thought that I would not speak, but the situation has compelled me to do so. Such an incident-accident, and there’s an attempt to suppress it,” she said.
“Why did the accident happen? Why did so many people die… It is the biggest accident of the century. What will the CBI do? The CBI could act if it’s a criminal case. Did you not see Pulwama? What had the-then governor stated? Today as well, it’s about suppression (of facts),” she said.
Claiming that the actual investigation concerning the accident didn’t happen, and all evidence has got wiped off, Banerjee said that she wants the truth to come out.
“Instead of looking into the rail incident-accident, the CBI has been sent to Kolkata…They have entered 14-16 municipalities, urban development (dept),” she said, asking if the washrooms are the next point of intrusion for the central agency.
“Doing all this, (facts about) such a big accident cannot be suppressed,” she said, adding that those responsible for the massive tragedy be punished.
At Kolkata’s Netaji Indoor Stadium, Banerjee offered financial assistance, and appointment letters for the job of home guards, to the affected families, as had been announced earlier. The compensation to the injured, and to those who underwent trauma, were also offered support. Of Bengal's 103 reported deaths, remains of 86 individuals have been recovered.
The CBI, on Tuesday, had stated that it had registered a case relating to the train accident. Taking over the investigation of the case, earlier registered at Balasore GRPS, a CBI team had reached Odisha’s Balasore.