West Bengal CM gives cops free hand on law and order

Riots, vandalism and destruction of public property are things of the past as the police have been given a free hand to do what they have been trained to do. That was the stern statement Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari issued during his first visit to Murshidabad after assuming charge.

Emerging from an administrative meeting, Adhikari said, “There will be no repetition of incidents that took place at places like Dhulian, Shamsherganj, Rejinagar or Shaktipur… I have told the police that they will not have to wait for permission… I told them, ‘Do whatever you have been trained to do and whatever the law permits you to do under the BNS… there will be no compromise on law and order.” The police have also been asked to show no leniency towards the infiltrators. “No mercy for infiltrators… I told them,” the Chief Minister said. 

Adhikari was apparently referring to last year’s post-Wakf Bill riots in Murshidabad that saw two deaths and hundreds of Hindu families fleeing to neighbouring Malda district. Another ostensible point of reference was the large-scale violence and arson when a number of Railway stations and trains were torched during the anti-CAA agitation a few years ago.

“The Government is committed towards strictly maintaining law and order, and there will be no compromise on that issue… so this is a warning to the mischief mongers… no amount of hooliganism will be tolerated by the Government,” he said, adding the new “Anti-Social Activities Bill (Anti-Goonda Bill) and the Maintenance of Public Order (Amendment) Bill would be implemented from Monday onwards.

Adhikari was visiting Murshidabad ahead of the Rejinagar Assembly by-election, where the seat fell vacant after local Aam Janata Unnayan Party MLA Humayun Kabir resigned as an MLA from this seat. He had won from two seats of Bharatpur and Rejinagar. The Chief Minister issued warnings to Kabir, a former TMC leader, against issuing communal statements. Murshidabad is a Muslim-majority district.

The Chief Minister, who later addressed a public rally, said within 45 days of his Government coming to power, it had allocated 338 acres of land to the BSF for fencing the international border with Bangladesh. “Out of 368 acres that was the original ask, we have allocated 338 acres to the BSF… the rest will be done soon,” the Chief Minister said, adding his Government was taking up the Ganga erosion issue in the area. About Rs 2500 crore had been requisitioned from the Centre and the work would begin post-monsoon, he said.