The West Bengal government has slapped arms cases against Locket Chatterjee, the head of the BJP’s women’s wing in the state, for taking out a procession with trishuls during Ram Navami celebrations on Sunday.
Chatterjee was charged with carrying trishuls and other 'arms', which are not covered under the IPC sections.
Chatterjee led a huge rally at Rampurhat in Birbhum where the CPI(M) also took out a rally a day before against celebration of Ram Navami, which was given the name of Ram-Rahim rally. In some areas of Bengal, however, it was seen that some antisocial elements came out with firearms.
A case under non-bailable sections was registered in the Rampurhat police station against Chatterjee by the West Bengal Police on Monday.
The decision to book Chatterjee came after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lambasted police forces at her review meeting in South 24 Parganas.
She said, “I have reports that some policemen did not take action. If they don’t, I will take action against them. I am asking DG of West Bengal Police to act tough. We would not tolerate this in Bengal.”
The CPI(M) poked fun at Banerjee on Monday, with state secretary and politburo member Surya Kanta Mishra openly alleging that the chief minister of West Bengal had succumbed to saffron pressure and allowed Bengal, known to be a place for secularism, to turn into a place for religious fanaticism.
“Tell me, could you ever imagine such things happening in our time? Chief minister completely allowed her party men to take part with BJP hooligans. Now, she talks about action. It’s all a farce,”said Mishra.
“I am sorry to say that all this is part of politics. Both Trinamool and BJP are fanning communalism in the state. This is the rightist politics being played out in Bengal. This is to polarise votes in Bengal. We will fight,” he said.
The BJP is unfazed, despite the charges against Chatterjee.
Asked to react to the non-bailable sections West Bengal government decided to slap against BJP leaders and workers, Biswapriya Roychowdhury, the party's state vice president, said, “Nothing will be done by just filing cases. West Bengal government would have to prove that we came out with arms, which are unlawful according to law. Trishuls and swords are not arms under IPC. We will fight them legally,” said Roychowdhury.