Sandeshkhali protest: ABVP activists engage in verbal duel with Una DSP
Una, March 3
Activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and DSP (Headquarters) Ajay Thakur yesterday entered into a verbal duel on the issue of a criminal case registered by the Una police against some ABVP activists who had burnt an effigy near the mini-secretariat gate while protesting against the Sandeshkhali incidents.
Led by BJP state vice-president Virender Kanwar, BJP activists had staged protests, raising slogans against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. About a dozen ABVP activists reached the main gate of the mini-secretariat where they burnt the effigy of the West Bengal CM.
Late on Friday, the police lodged an FIR under Sections 341 and 143 of the IPC, naming seven identified persons besides about half a dozen unidentified youth for unlawful assembly and wrongfully restraining the public.
About two dozen ABVP activists yesterday assembled in front of the mini-secretariat to protest against the FIR and began to raise slogans against the district administration and the police. DSP (Headquarters) Ajay Thakur came down to talk to the activists. He was accompanied by a posse of police personnel. Verbal discussions soon turned into heated arguments that led to tempers rising on both sides. BJP Yuva Morcha activists also joined the show, which ended without any conclusion.
ABVP district coordinator Chandan Sekhri, one of the youths named in the FIR, said after they had burnt the effigy, they were called by the officers from the district administration, who told them that they were wrong and demanded a written apology. He said they had tendered a written apology to the district administration. It was, therefore, unfair on the part of the police to register a criminal case.
Defending the FIR, the DSP said the fire could have spread to the multi-story mini-secretariat, posing a threat to the life of hundreds of employees. He added that the continued sloganeering also disturbed the working of the employees.
Meanwhile, in a press release issued here regarding the FIR, Una MLA Satpal Singh Satti said effigies had always been burnt by political parties on public places, including road intersections, highways and near public buildings. He said officers should desist from acting as stooges of parties in power, adding that he would be back in Una shortly and lead a tirade against such officers who act on the whims and fancies of their political masters.
