Even as there was a general security high-alert on Republic Day, a serious lapse occurred when a police thana in the coastal district of South 24 Parganas in West Bengal was attacked, and an arrested person was freed from the lockup, allegedly by supporters of the Trinamool Congress, on Tuesday morning.
The incident occurred when Republic day celebrations were in progress at the Chotomollar Khali thana, a newly-raised police station on an island in the Sunderbans.
The incident evoked a reaction from Left Front chairman Biman Bose too, who said that such instances of forcibly snatching way of an arrested person does not portend well.
The police detained Soumen Patra, allegedly a Trinamool Congress supporter, on Monday evening. He was charged with attempt to murder. On Tuesday morning, a group of nearly 25 people interrupted the Republic Day celebrations asking the police to release Mr. Patra. Later, a larger group laid siege to the thana and attacked the personnel, including the Officer-in-Charge, Kaushik Kundu.
“Armed with lathis, digging tools and some firearms, they attacked us and forcibly released Mr. Patra from the lock-up …they left the premises shouting slogans in support of the Trinamool Congress,” Mr. Kundu said adding that four policemen were injured in the attack.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee denied that supporters of her party were responsible for the attack. In an interview to a local television channel from New Delhi, Ms. Banerjee said: “The incident was engineered by the administration and the RSP (Revolutionary Socialist Party) aided by the Communist Party of India (Marxist).”
She said the women from the family of the detained person had laid siege to the thana demanding his release. The residents of the village, irrespective of political affiliations, were involved in the incident, she said. “They could have been CPI (M), Congress or Trinamool supporters,” she said.
“He is a social worker against whom the police couldn’t bring any charges. Buckling under pressure of the protest mounted by the villagers, the police released him on their own,” Ms. Banerjee claimed.
Senior CPI (M) leader and former MP, Sujan Chakraborty, asked: “If those who attacked the premises of the thana were local residents, why did they shout Trinamool Congress slogans? And if the police themselves released the prisoner, why would the policemen be injured.”
“Only a police inquiry would reveal the details of the incident. But at a time when democracy is under threat and there is a state of lawlessness, instead of condemning the incident, she [Ms. Banerjee] is defending the perpetrators,” said Minister for Sunderban Affairs Kanti Ganguly.
