Medinipur: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials of attacking villagers in Bhupatinagar, Purba Medinipur district, rather than the other way around, during an election rally in Balurghat, Dakshin Dinajpur district on Saturday.
Banerjee defended the villagers’ response as an act of self-defence, claiming that NIA officials had entered several houses in the early hours over an incident involving the “bursting of crackers in 2022.”
“The attack was not perpetrated by the women of Bhupatinagar, but rather by NIA team,” she said.
Earlier on Saturday morning, as per reports, NIA team was allegedly attacked when the officials reached there to investigate a 2022 blast case at a Trinamool Congress leader’s house.
Initial reports indicated that a car belonging to NIA team was attacked with bricks, resulting in damage to the windscreen.
The incident occurred around 5:30 am when local residents surrounded the vehicle and threw stones at it. A senior police official informed Hindustan Times that one NIA officer was injured during the attack.
the NIA team had arrested two people in connection with a case and was returning to Kolkata when the vehicle was targeted, according to news agency PTI.
The NIA has filed a police complaint regarding the incident. A large contingent of central police forces has been deployed to Bhupatinagar, where the NIA team and the arrested people are currently located, as confirmed by the police.
On December 3, 2022, an explosion occurred at a house with a thatched roof in Bhupatinagar, resulting in the deaths of three people.
Last month, the NIA summoned eight leaders of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for questioning related to the blast incident. The TMC accused the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) of orchestrating the NIA’s actions. The central investigation agency had issued summonses to these individuals after they failed to appear for earlier summons on March 28, directing them to visit the NIA office in New Town.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that NIA personnel attacked women in Bhupatinagar and the latter only tried to save themselves from the central forces.
While addressing an election rally in Balurghat, Banerjee said, “It was the NIA that attacked and not the women. Gaddar (alluding to Suvendu Adhikari) knows he is losing. NIA officials are barging into people’s homes at midnight, what do you expect, women won’t fight for their dignity?”
