Trinamool leaders allege restriction on Mamata Banerjee's movement amid Baruipur case tensions

Kolkata, July 5 : The "original but minority" faction in the Trinamool Congress, which continues its allegiance towards former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, has alleged a deliberate and massive deployment of state and central forces in front of the residence of the two leaders at Kalighat in south Kolkata, allegedly to prevent them from visiting the family of a child who was allegedly raped and murdered in Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district.

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member and a prominent face in the party’s “original but minority” faction, Derek O’Brien, issued a social media statement questioning why central forces were being deployed to restrict freedom of movement and confine them to their homes.

“What’s going on in Bengal? For hours now, ten-plus police cars deliberately parked in the narrow lane just outside the house of @MamataOfficial. The devious ploy to jam lane and prevent her from leaving her home to visit the family of the child brutally raped and murdered in Baruipur,” O’Brien claimed.

Similarly, Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member Mahua Moitra also issued a social media statement condemning the development. Attaching a visual of police and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) deployment, the authenticity of which could not be independently verified by IANS, Moitra claimed that this was how the state government in West Bengal was treating Mamata Banerjee, a seven-term Lok Sabha member, Union Minister and three-term Chief Minister of West Bengal.

Moitra also alleged that the deployment and route marches were being carried out deliberately to prevent Mamata Banerjee from travelling to Baruipur.

Meanwhile, four persons have already been arrested in connection with the rape and murder of the minor girl in Baruipur.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari spoke to a family member of the victim and assured that the culprits would not be spared under any circumstances. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has also been constituted to probe the matter.