Police should take suo motu action against BJP leaders for 'encounter' comment: Mamata

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday the police should take suo motu cognizance against those BJP leaders who advocated the "Uttar Pradesh model" of encounters in the state to wipe out criminals.

Banerjee also condemned the lynching incidents across India, saying the country belonged to each and every citizen irrespective of his or her caste, creed and religion.

"Some BJP leaders are threatening to conduct encounters in West Bengal. I don't know why the police did not file a suo motu case against them and take action. The police should take suo-motu cognizance," she said while speaking on the floor of the assembly.

The Trinamool Congress supremo's comment came in the backdrop of two senior state Bharatiya Janata Party leaders saying on Monday that the party would follow the "Uttar Pradesh model" of giving free hand to the police to wipe out criminals in encounters if it comes to power in the state.

Referring to the incidents of lynching in the country, the chief minister said: "I strongly condemn what happened in Jharkhand. People are living in fear. They are killing people."

Tabrez Ansari, 24, was allegedly tied to a pole and thrashed with sticks by a mob in Jharkhand's Seraikela Kharsawan district last Wednesday on the suspicion of theft. The newly-married youth was purportedly seen in a video being forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram" and "Jai Hanuman". He succumbed to his injuries on Saturday.

Banerjee accused the BJP of promoting communal divide in the country. "The country is for all -- for Muslims, Hindus, Chirstians, Jains, Sikhs. I fear that the BJP might change the Constitution," she said. "Is it a fault of someone to be born in a certain religion or caste? Is it my fault that I have a certain surname?"

"The Union Home Ministry is sending advisories to Bengal over law-and-order issue. But what about the law and order issue in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand or Haryana? Did they send any advisory to these states? The answer is no. This (sending of advisories) is politically motivated to malign Bengal," she said.

The chief minister said the administration would take stern action against those who indulge in engineering riots and spread fake news.

Banerjee claimed that the entire administration was taken over for the past six months by the Election Commission because of the Lok Sabha election, accusing the poll body of functioning at the behest of the BJP.

"I admit that there were some gaps in last six months as the entire administration was taken over by the EC. Just like in other part of the country, the BJP has undermined each and every institution in the state," she said.