Bengal ministers visit Sandeshkhali, CPI(M) leader stopped midway

Kolkata: West Bengal ministers Sujit Bose and Partha Bhowmick on Saturday visited trouble-torn Sandeshkhali to take stock of the situation, while a CPI(M) delegation led by Minakshi Mukhopadhyay was prevented by the police from venturing into interior areas of the region in North 24 Parganas district.

State Fire Services Minister Bose and Irrigation Minister Partha Bhowmick, accompanied by Sandeshkhali MLA Sukumar Mahato, toured the area and spoke to the villagers, listening to their grievances.

The CPI(M) delegation led by Mukhopadhay was, however, was prevented by the police from venturing further into interior villages citing the imposition of prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC.

They were stopped at Majher Para area, where the CPI(M) activists staged a sit-in and raised slogans against the police.

A team of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) headed by Vijaya Bharati Sayani also visited trouble-torn Sandeshkhali for the second consecutive day to investigate into allegations of land-grabbing by some TMC leaders.

One part of the team, comprising three members, went to Jeliakhali, while another team comprising two members visited Sandeshkhali Police Station and also spoke to villagers.

ADG (South Bengal) Supratim Sarkar also made a visit to the area.

Meanwhile, tension erupted in the Halder Para area of Sandeshkhali when some villagers tried to attack a TMC supporter but police brought the situation under control, an officer said.

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, on the other hand, likened the situation in Sandeshkhali to Nandigram, where a movement against "forcible" land acquisition by the then Left Front government in 2007-08 catapulted the TMC to power in 2011.

"The situation in Sandeshkhali is like Nandigram... people have brought serious allegations of land-grabbing, vote-looting, sexual harassment and murder of democracy in the area," he told reporters in Kolkata.

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC are still in force in certain parts of Sandeshkhali.

The region has been rocked by protests over alleged land-grabbing and sexual harassment of women by local TMC leaders, including Sheikh Shajahan and his brother Sheikh Sirajuddin.

Trouble started brewing in the area when a team of ED officials that conducted a raid on Shajahan's house on January 5 was attacked by a mob allegedly affiliated to the local TMC leadership.

The area also saw visits by members of the National Human Rights Commission, national ST and SC commissions and the National Commission for Women.

The Director General of Police also visited the area twice in an effort to instill confidence among the villagers.