West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lashed out at the Centre on Saturday saying that it had a "non-cooperative attitude" and that the "border areas are being disturbed with foreign hands having good relations with the Bharatiya Janata Party."
Meanwhile, the state BJP on Saturday submitted a memorandum to West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi demanding President's Rule be imposed in the state.
Basirhat Violence
Regarding the ongoing communal violence in Basirhat and Baduria, the chief minister said that the state government would "ask for a judicial inquiry" into the incidents. Banerjee blamed the Centre for the ongoing communal riots in Basirhat alleging that the BJP instigated violence in the border areas.
Violence broke out in the two areas after a boy wrote a post on Facebook criticising Prophet Mohammed. One person lost his life in the clashes while some were injured. The BJP and the Left have since not been allowed to enter the two areas. Security forces have been deployed in the areas to maintain law and order.
Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs were quoted by ANI as saying: "Four BSF companies sent to Basirhat. Four additional companies which were sent two days ago were sent back by the state government."
On Saturday, police also detained three BJP leaders from the Centre when they were on their way to visit the riot-hit Basirhat. BJP MPs Meenakshi Lekhi, Om Mathur and Satyapal Singh were stopped by police near Birati, located close to the Kolkata airport. They were detained and taken to Kolkata Airport police station.
Lekhi told ANI: "Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is not applicable here and they cannot arrest us. They should have taken us to other jurisdiction and let them decide. The contradiction is that on one side they are not letting three members of the Parliament to travel and on the other hand they are saying everything is under control. On what basis are they arresting, I don't know."
On Friday, BJP MP and Bengali actress Roopa Ganguly and CPI(M)'s Mohammed Salim were stopped from visiting the violence-hit areas.
Bhaskar Mukherjee, the superintendent of police (SP) of North 24 Parganas, has been removed from his position in the wake of the ongoing communal violence in Baduria. C Sudhakar Rao has been appointed as the new SP of the district.
Mamata appeals for peace in Darjeeling
While addressing the media in Kolkata, Banerjee appealed to the people of Darjeeling "to not resort to violence and instead make peace." She added: "Negotiations are part of a democratic system but let peace be restored first."
The Indian Army has been deployed in Darjeeling which witnessed fresh protests after a Gorkhaland supporter was allegedly shot dead by police. Supporters also torched a Darjeeling Himalayan Railway station on Saturday to protest the killing of 31-year-old Tashi Bhutia at a road junction in Sonada.
Two columns of the Indian Army have been deployed in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Sonada as protests escalated after Bhutia's body was found with a bullet wound lying in a pool of blood in Sonada, located 15 km from Darjeeling.
Locals took out a rally with the body and also pelted stones at the Sonada Police Station forcing the security personnel to use tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. However, the police have denied any firing from their end.
