Trinamul team detained at airport MPs allege barbarism, cops hurt

(From top) A video grab of the Trinamul Congress delegation in Silchar airport, injured constable Rubi Rani Das and members of the team sit on the conveyor belt. 

SWAPNANEEL BHATTACHARJEE AND PANKAJ SARMA, TT, Aug 03, 2018 Silchar: A Trinamul Congress (TMC) delegation which arrived here on Thursday to assess the situation in Assam in the wake of the publication of draft NRC was detained at the airport.

Sources said a seven-member TMC delegation, comprising MPs Sukhendu Shekhar Roy, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Ratna De Nag, Mamata Balathakur, Nadimul Haque and Arpita Ghosh and MLA Mahua Mitra, was stopped by Cachar deputy commissioner S. Lakshmanan and police officials after the aircraft landed at 1.40pm at the airport in Cachar districtthe officials could not show proper documents. Lakshmanan told them because of law and order issuesWe demanded to know whether there was a restraining order. Even journalists were roughed up. , especially during the ongoing drive for concluding the process of NRC in the state., banning assembly of five or more personscivil Asked if the TMC members would be arrested if they refuse to go back, he said, "We will go as per law".

The order issued by Guwahati police commissioner H. C. Nath said the TMC leaders were likely to make controversial/inflammatory speeches/statements while addressing the media or the public, thereby disturbing peace and order, if they are allowed to visit Guwahati.

Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha, Saugata Roy lodged a protest over the detention of the party MPs in the middle of a debate over the OBC Commission. "`Is Assam a different country,'' he asked, wondering why his party MPs were detained. Other TMC MPs billed the treatment meted out to the delegates as "super emergency". The MPs rushed towards the Well of the House shouting "We want justice''.

Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai assured Roy that he would bring the issue to the Speaker's notice and asked the TMC to return to their seats. Later TMC Rajya Sabha leader Derek O' Brien told reporters said the delegation members were roughed up. `"TMC law makers did not go to break the law. They even suggested that they be allowed to go in groups of two to meet some people left out of the NRC," he said.

Silchar BJP MLA Dilip Kumar Paul said it was all a "drama" by TMC leaders. "They came here with the intention of creating unrest in the state," he added.

Rubbishing the allegation of assault, he claimed it was a pre-planned move. "The matter started when one of the reporters, who came with them, was recording a video, which is strictly prohibited inside an airport. Why did they feel the need to bring reporters with them? This clearly indicates that it was a pre-planned move," he said.

He also slammed Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly making "provocative" remarks on the NRC issue. Mamata had said on Tuesday that the NRC exercise in Assam was done with a "political motive" and that it would lead to bloodbath and civil war in the country.

"There is no need of Mamata in Assam. She may do whatever she likes in Bengal, but interference in this state will not be tolerated," Paul said.

Sadhan Purkayastha, the state secretary of Aamra Bangali, condemned the alleged assault on the TMC leaders and said the district administration could have handled the matter in a better way. "A political leader of a state can visit any other state in the country. The manner in which they were treated was completely undemocratic," he said.

One case was registered at North Lakhimpur police station on the basis of an FIR lodged by Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad leader Sudipta Hazarika while another was registered at Panbazar police station in Guwahati on the basis of an FIR lodged by one Mulin Sarma on Wednesday. The third was registered at Basistha police station in Guwahati on Thursday on the basis of an FIR lodged by RTI activist Dulal Bora.

The cases were registered under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153A (promoting enmity among people on grounds of religion, race, residence and language and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony), 294 (obscene acts and words) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, Saikia said.

"The investigation is at a preliminary stage. We are looking into the contents of the FIRs and appropriate action will be taken," he added.

A former TMC leader in Assam, Kailash Sarma, also lodged a complaint against Mamata at Latasil police station here on Thursday but no case has been registered yet.

On July 31, the BJP's youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, had also filed a complaint against Mamata at Naharkatia police station in Dibrugarh district for her reported statement against the NRC but no case has been registered so far.