A schoolteacher was dragged on the road while she was beaten up allegedly by Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters who wanted to “forcibly” acquire her land for a road in the village.
The incident that took place in Nandanpur panchayat in West Bengal’s South Dinajpur district on Friday came to light when a video of it went viral on the social media. The episode kicked up a storm with the Opposition accusing the TMC of “letting loose goonda raj” in the State. However, the ruling party’s leadership rubbished the allegations as “baseless.”
The woman, identified as a teacher at a government high school and BJP supporter, Smritikana Das, her mother and other family members were assaulted by the group led by panchayat members in Gangarampur block, the police said. So far nobody has been arrested in connection with the incident.
TMC expels perpetrator
A video grab of the purported attack showed Nandanpur panchayat ‘up-pradhan’ (deputy chief) Amal Sarkar and some others involved in the act, the police said. The TMC district leadership on Sunday expelled Sarkar from the party for his alleged involvement in the incident, party sources said.
The video showed that the teacher fell down on the road when the attackers tied her hands and legs, and dragged her for nearly 30 ft while constantly raining blows on her. The assaulters then locked her inside a house belonging to a TMC block level worker. Her sister Soma was also beaten up by the attackers when she tried to rescue her.
The teacher, who was discharged from a local hospital after preliminary treatment, lodged a complaint against Sarkar and four TMC supporters at Gangarampur police station, a police officer said. “We are probing the incident and also talking to eyewitnesses,” he said.
Blame game
According to locals, the panchayat had recently taken up a project to build a road that would pass through the woman’s land, but she was not giving her land for the purpose. The incident triggered a political blame game.
BJP State General Secretary Sayantan Basu said, “These incidents are just a reflection of the goonda raj that has been going on in the state. The TMC has institutionalized hooliganism in the state. Just because the person was a lady teacher, such kind of torture was meted out to her.”
CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty echoed similar views. TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee said action has been taken against the accused and iterated that the party never supports such actions. Several civil society groups are planning to move human rights commission against the incident.
