Siliguri bandh if minister does not get arrested: CPM

EOI, Siliguri, 30 September 2014: The Darjeeling district committee of the CPM has threatened to call a strike in Siliguri after the Pujas if North Bengal Development Department minister Gautam Deb is not arrested soon in relation to the Ramghat assault case.

Speaking today to the media at a press conference called at the Anil Biswas Bhawan, district CPM general secretary Jibesh Sarkar said, “We will call a strike in Siliguri after the Pujas if the minister is not arrested.”

He said the law should be equal for all citizens, but ever since the Trinamool Congress government has come to power; it seems there are two separate laws, one for the common people and the other for the ruling party members and leaders.

According to Sarkar, the Siliguri police have done a great injustice by registering a bailable case against the minister when two of the victims filed a complaint against him, while registering a non-bailable case against the two when Deb lodged an FIR.

The CPM leader accused the police of acting under intense pressure from the ruling party and torturing the residents of Ramghat who are opposed to the proposed electric crematorium in the area.

Amarnath Singh, former councilor of Ward No. 5 under Siliguri Municipal Corporation where Ramghat is situated, said the residents are against the project and are protesting, but the minister did not hear their grievances even once.