Sandeshkhali, a small riverine island on the Indo-Bangladesh border which hit the headlines after womenfolk rose in protest against sexual abuse and land grabbing by Trinamool Congress, is on the boil again after a local woman alleged that Trinamool Congress workers had abducted her and pressurised her to tell courts that her allegations of atrocities on women in the area were “false”.
The women of Sandeshkhali are spending the nights huddled in the agricultural fields so that “Trinamool leaders and policemen cannot lay their hands on them.”
Anwesha Mondal, the wife of a civic volunteer, on Thursday lodged a police complaint alleging that she was abducted by three persons from outside her residence on Wednesday night.
In her complaint with the local Sandeshkhali police station, the woman claimed that she was pressured to tell courts that alleged atrocities on women in the area were “false”.
“A complaint was lodged at 2.30 am on Thursday, and a case was filed. The investigation is underway. Three persons have been named in the complaint. No arrests have been made so far,” a district police officer told The Daily Guardian.
This development follows the release of a series of videos which show a local BJP leader, mandal president Gangadhar Koyal, saying that the Sandeshkhali protests were being masterminded by the BJP’s Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari. He also said that Adhikari was supplying money and weapons to the people of Sandeshkhali. Koyal was also heard saying in a third clip, that more than 70 women had received Rs 2,000 each for taking part in protests against local Trinamool Congress leaders.
Some videos that have gone viral also show women of Sandeshkhali alleging that some local women activists of the BJP had coerced them to sign on blank papers or had made them level false allegations against Trinamool Congress leaders.
The police have filed a series of FIRs against Koyal and have arrested a local female BJP activist Mampi Das for her alleged role in filing false complaints of rape against Trinamool Congress leaders.
In a video shared by BJP leader and lawyer Priyanka Tibrewal on social media, the woman was heard saying that she was gagged and dragged out of her house when she went outside after hearing the barking of dogs.
In a post on X, Tibrewal stated: “ I visited Sandeshkhali, where TMC goons are threatening the people to prove Sk. Shahjahan is innocent. One woman named Anwesha Mondal told me about the atrocities of Dilip Mallick who a few days ago abducted a woman. Following this complaint, today evening, TMC goons abducted her, tied her up, and left her beside a pond to die. We took her to the Police Station. The ruling party sponsored goons are torturing women but the administration is a silent spectator.”
On Thursday morning, Priyanka Tibrewal also brought up the subject of Sandeshkhali at Calcutta High Court. She drew the attention of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam on the Sandeshkhali case. She alleged that women of Sandeshkhali were being threatened by the police and the Trinamool leaders into withdrawing their complaints
“The men in the villages of Sandeshkhali have all run away. The police are arresting the womenfolk even in the dark of the night. The women are afraid to stay in their houses at night and are spending the nights hiding in the agricultural fields,” she told the court. She said that despite court orders, the police had not put up adequate lights or CCTV cameras in Sandeshkhali to help the Trinamool Congress goons.
Chief Justice TS Sivajnanam, however, dismissed the plea for urgent hearing of the case. The Chief Justice observed that since the CBI is investigating, the complaint should be reported to the CBI.
“The court will not make any further inquiry into the matter nor will it interfere in this matter for the time being,” he said.
Senior BJP leader and Bengal co-minder Amit Malviya said: “While Mamata Banerjee and her nephew are working hard to disprove the claims and malign the women of Sandeshkhali, their own party’s panchayat samiti member and her husband have confirmed that the allegations against Sibu Hazra, Uttam Sardar and Sheikh Shahjahan were true.