West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday threatened to take “legal recourse” if the Army deployment in several parts of the State, allegedly without the State government’s permission, is not withdrawn.
Speaking to journalists at the State Secretariat where she had spent the past 24 hours, Ms. Banerjee alleged that the Army’s data collection exercise on availability of the goods carriers at the toll plazas was continuing in “three to four places in Bengal.”
The Army, however, refuted the Chief Minister’s allegations and said the exercise was conducted “in coordination” with the local police.
State told of exercise: Army
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said Army personnel had been deployed in several districts of the State like Murshidabad, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, North 24 Paragans, Burdwan, Howrah and Hooghly without permission of the State government.
‘Unprecedented’
“The army is deployed without informing the state government. This is unprecedented and a very serious matter, ” Ms Banerjee said.
However, an Army official told The Hindu that till Friday evening, the Army was not “officially” asked to stop the data collection exercise.
Addressing the media, the officiating General Officer Commanding (Bengal Area) Major General Sunil Yadav said the exercise was conducted "in coordination with the with the local police authorities...It was earlier planned for November 27 and 28. The dates were changed to November 30 to December 2 on a specific request by Kolkata Police due to Bharat Bandh on November 28,” Maj. Gen. Yadav said.
