Tag: central agencies

  • ‘Surgical strikes’ by central agencies must to curb anti-national activities in Bengal: Dilip Ghosh

    Senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh believes that under the TMC regime, West Bengal is sitting on a ticking time bomb and security and central agencies need to conduct “surgical strikes” to curb anti-national activities in the bordering state. In an interview with PTI, Ghosh expressed concern over a deep-rooted nexus of financial scams and terror modules in the state and predicted heightened activities by central agencies after the elections are over.

    “West Bengal, a bordering state, has witnessed not only a deteriorating law and order situation but also incidents detrimental to national security. Uncovering of bomb-making factories and terror modules indicate that Bengal has become a haven for infiltrators and anti-national elements,” he said.

    Asserting that a significant demographic shift in border areas due to TMC’s alleged politics of appeasement, Ghosh claimed that national security is at stake under the Trinamool regime, since the ruling party lacks control over the state’s affairs. The former state BJP president said, “There exists an anti-national chain in West Bengal, encompassing not only terror modules but also various corruption cases.”

    He alleged that under the TMC regime, several areas resemble Sandeshkhali and Bhoopatinagar, where anti-national elements are allowed a free run.

    “The state is on the verge of an explosion, and it is imperative that security and central agencies must conduct surgical strikes to safeguard it,” Ghosh stressed. Allegations of sexual abuse against TMC leaders have emerged recently at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district. ED officials faced a mob attack there in January. At Bhoopatinagar in Purba Medinipur district too, an NIA team was allegedly attacked by a mob last week when it went to arrest two suspects in a 2022 blast case. Ghosh criticised the state police and CID for allegedly covering up these issues through biased investigations.

    Referring to Sandeshkhali and Bhoopatinagar, Ghosh accused the TMC of “playing with national security” and emphasized the BJP’s responsibility to protect the state.

    “After the elections are over, you will see how the central agencies unravel the conspiracy against the interests of the nation,” he said.

    Regarding the Citizenship Amendment Act, Ghosh questioned the TMC’s opposition to its implementation, saying “The CAA will clearly distinguish citizens from foreigners.”

    Ghosh asserted that the CAA will not only consolidate the Hindus in Bengal but also help the BJP sweep elections in the state.

    According to the CAA, the rules of which were notified on March 13, the government will grant Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants – Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians – from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.

    On the anti-CAA protests that rocked parts of the state in 2019 after the law was passed by Parliament, Ghosh alleged those were engineered by infiltrators who are a voting bloc of the TMC.

    “The lungi party had come down to streets, burnt buses and public property to protest against the CAA. These people are capturing areas in Bengal and are eating into jobs of locals and facilities of the government,” he said.

    Asked about the possibility of a National Register of Citizens in the near future as apprehended by some opposition leaders, Ghosh said, “The NRC in Assam was done as per the Assam Accord and court order.”

    Assam witnessed a six-year-long agitation since 1979 demanding identification and deportation of illegal immigrants. The movement culminated in the signing of the Assam Accord.

    “The government did not do it on their own (in Assam). Now, if anyone moves court and wants NRC to be implemented and the court accepts the plea, then it might happen,” he said.

    Ghosh, an MP of the Medinipur Lok Sabha seat, who has now been shifted to Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency, has exuded confidence about his victory.

    “I am a loyal soldier of the party. Whatever assignment it gives me, I will accept it,” he said.

    Ghosh, when he was the West Bengal BJP head, led the party to significant electoral gains, overseeing its rise from two Lok Sabha seats in 2014 to 18 in 2019 and from three assembly seats in 2016 to 77 in 2021.

    Asked whether turncoats have a bigger say in the state of affairs in the BJP West Bengal unit, he said, “We were in a growing phase in Bengal and our local leaders and workers lacked experience. We had to bring in leaders from other parties to lead the party.”

    To a question, Ghosh said, “The party is accommodating both the old and new; that is how it is functioning in the entire country.”

    Ghosh, who is known for making controversial remarks had recently stirred a controversy by mocking the family background of Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee in a purported video clip, said he believes in “calling spade a spade.”

    “I am a straightforward person, others might be wary of commenting on something. But I am not as I believe in politics, you need to speak in the language one understands,” he said.

  • sandeshkhali: ‘Highly shameful’ even if only 1 pc of Sandeshkhali allegations true: Calcutta HC

    Observing that it would be “highly shameful” if even one per cent of the allegations of sexual assault in Sandeshkhali were found to be true, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday said that West Bengal’s image as the safest state for women will fall. Petitioner-lawyer Priyanka Tibrewal submitted a voluminous compilation before the court which she said contained around 100 affidavits of alleged victims of sexual assault, apart from those of land grabbing and violence.

    “If at least one per cent (of the allegations) is true, it is highly shameful,” a division bench presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam said.

    The division bench was hearing a suo motu motion on alleged sexual assault and land grabbing at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district and petitions seeking transfer of investigation of these cases to the CBI. Opposing the prayers for transfer of investigation, West Bengal’s Advocate General Kishore Dutta claimed before the division bench that central agencies have lost the trust posed in them.

    He questioned the conviction rate of central agencies in cases they were probing in the state, while the Enforcement Directorate’s counsel accused it of non-cooperation in taking forward investigations.

    Maintaining that it is shameful if even one of the affidavits is correct, the Chief Justice said, “The entire district administration and the ruling dispensation have to owe moral responsibility, 100 per cent responsibility.” He said that West Bengal boasts of a statistics report to be the safest state for women. “As per the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) report, West Bengal stands number one for safety of women; and if one affidavit filed by Tibrewal is proved to be right, the statistics falls, the public image falls, the opinion falls,” he said.

    “If it falls and crumbles, you cannot resurrect it,” he said.

    The court said that the world does not become dark if one closes his or her eyes.

    Tibrewal, who prayed for transfer of investigation to the CBI, placed before the division bench, also comprising Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya a number of complaints by alleged victims.

    Stating that she had gone to Sandeshkhali on three weekends along with other lawyers and notaries to record the affidavits, Tibrewal claimed that the voluminous files contained around 100 complaints by women alleging sexual assault, apart from several of alleged land grabbing and other instances of violence and destruction of property.

    Tibrewal also prayed for constitution of a committee by the court to look into the complaints and payment of compensation to the victims.

    The division bench had on March 7 granted permission to Tibrewal, who claimed to represent the victim women, to file an application/supplementary affidavit bringing on record whatever the alleged victims wish to place before this court.

    A report of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes was also filed by another petitioner-advocate Susmita Saha Dutta, who stated that she had visited Sandeshkhali on NCST’s invitation along with its members, before the court.

    After hearing the submissions of advocates on various prayers on Thursday, the division bench reserved judgment on the petitions.

    Accusing the state of non-cooperation, the central government’s Deputy Solicitor General Dhiraj Trivedi, representing the ED in this matter, asked how the central agencies could take forward the investigations in such a situation.

    He submitted that the high court has ordered investigations by central agencies in several cases in the state, including the violence following the 2021 West Bengal assembly elections, as the local police have been found wanting.

    The state’s Advocate General submitted that if required, a PIL can be instituted at the instance of the court as to how many CBI investigations were ordered by it in the last 10 years, and what are the results of those and what is the fate of the trials.

    He wondered about the conviction rate of the central probe agencies, like the CBI or the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

    Claiming that the court must be convinced that the people approaching it have no personal interest in the matter, Dutta asked what research was made by the persons who have come before the court on the Sandeshkhali issue.

    The AG stated that prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC are not in force anywhere in Sandeshkhali and things are under control.

    He prayed that the state police be allowed to investigate the complaints which have come forth.

    On the question raised by the AG as to why the alleged victim women did not come up with their complaints earlier, Tibrewal said it happens when general people cannot take atrocities anymore.

    She claimed to have moved a PIL before the high court in June 2017 over the alleged rape and murder of a 68-year-old woman in Sandeshkhali.

    Another petitioner-lawyer Alakh Alok Srivastava, who also sought transfer of probe of the sexual assault and land grabbing cases in Sandeshkhali to the CBI, submitted that it is a fit case for transfer to CBI when there are allegations of bias against the local police by the alleged victims.

    Advocate Jayanta Narayan Chatterjee, the amicus curiae appointed by the court in the matter, has already filed a report before it on the allegations of sexual atrocities on women and land grabbing of villagers.

  • ‘Don’t believe PM behind misuse of CBI, ED’: Mamata as resolution against agencies’ ‘excesses’ passed

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she doesn’t believe that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is behind the alleged excesses of central agencies in the state. She instead blamed a section of the BJP leaders for misusing them to serve their interests, adding that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) now reports to the Union Home Ministry, controlled by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

    Banerjee, who was speaking on a resolution in the Assembly against the ‘excesses’ of the central probe agencies, urged the Prime Minister to ensure that the agenda of the union government and the interests of his party do not get mixed up.

    The BJP opposed the resolution which was later passed by the Assembly.

    “The present union government is behaving in a dictatorial way. This resolution is not against anyone in particular, but against the biased functioning of the central agencies,” Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, said.

    “Businessmen are leaving the country and running away. They are running away because of fear and misuse of ED (Enforcement Directorate) and the CBI. I believe Modi hasn’t done this,” she told the assembly during a debate before the resolution.

    “Many of you don’t know that the CBI doesn’t report to the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) anymore. It reports to the Home Ministry. Some BJP leaders are conspiring and they go to Nizam Palace often,” the Chief Minister added.

    READ HERE | Bengal first state to pass resolution against ED, CBI and other central agencies in Assembly

    Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said such a “resolution against the CBI and ED” is against the rules and regulations of the Assembly.

    The resolution was passed through division, with 189 voting in favour of it and 69 against.

    Central agencies such as CBI and ED are probing into several cases in the state, in which senior TMC leaders are accused.

    (With online desk inputs)

    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she doesn’t believe that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is behind the alleged excesses of central agencies in the state. She instead blamed a section of the BJP leaders for misusing them to serve their interests, adding that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) now reports to the Union Home Ministry, controlled by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

    Banerjee, who was speaking on a resolution in the Assembly against the ‘excesses’ of the central probe agencies, urged the Prime Minister to ensure that the agenda of the union government and the interests of his party do not get mixed up.

    The BJP opposed the resolution which was later passed by the Assembly.

    “The present union government is behaving in a dictatorial way. This resolution is not against anyone in particular, but against the biased functioning of the central agencies,” Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, said.

    “Businessmen are leaving the country and running away. They are running away because of fear and misuse of ED (Enforcement Directorate) and the CBI. I believe Modi hasn’t done this,” she told the assembly during a debate before the resolution.

    “Many of you don’t know that the CBI doesn’t report to the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) anymore. It reports to the Home Ministry. Some BJP leaders are conspiring and they go to Nizam Palace often,” the Chief Minister added.

    READ HERE | Bengal first state to pass resolution against ED, CBI and other central agencies in Assembly

    Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said such a “resolution against the CBI and ED” is against the rules and regulations of the Assembly.

    The resolution was passed through division, with 189 voting in favour of it and 69 against.

    Central agencies such as CBI and ED are probing into several cases in the state, in which senior TMC leaders are accused.

    (With online desk inputs)

  • Central agencies including Enforcement Directorate, CBI, NCB, being misused to target opposition: Sharad Pawar 

    The NCP, which shares power in Maharashtra with the Shiv Sena and Congress, had earlier said it will face the onslaught of central agencies on its leaders and workers will full vigour.

  • BJP targeting kin of Maharashtra ministers, never seen such ‘blatant misuse of power’: Sharad Pawar

    Express News Service

    MUMBAI: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday alleged that since the BJP failed to topple the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, it was targeting close relatives and associates of the ministers in the state government.

    Addressing a press conference, the veteran politician said that in his 56 years of career, he had never seen such “blatant misuse of power” by the central government.  His statement comes days after the Income Tax sleuths searched the properties of relatives of NCP leader and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

    “BJP has been trying to unstable Uddhav Thackeray-led government, but has failed in all its attempts. Therefore, as a new strategy, they are targeting the people who are close to or relatives of the ministers. The raid is not at Ajit Pawar but on the properties owned by his sisters and son. A similar thing happened with Congress minister Ashok Chavan and Shiv Sena minister Subhash Desai whose close associates and relatives were targetted by conducting raids,” Pawar said. 

    Pawar also took jibe at former CM Devendra Fadnavis for his statement that he still felt like being the CM. “It is a good thing that I couldn’t  feel so even though I was a four-time CM,” Pawar said.

    ‘Deputy CM’s sisters have no big assets’

    Pawar said the sisters of Ajit Pawar had nothing to do with politics. They were leading middle-class lives and did not own big properties but their houses were raided.