Kolkata: Trinamool Congress has alleged that the Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari had claimed in the past that police did not open fire at the students in the Daribhit incident while questioning the choice of the court in appointing Pankaj Datta as one of the members of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the Kaliaganj incident.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh alleged that it was Suvendu Adhikari who had claimed in the past that the police did not open fire in the Daribhit incident and now he seems to be very vocal about wanting to find out the truth in the matter. The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday ordered a probe by the National Investigation Agency into the deaths of two youths in North Dinajpur’s Daribhit in suspected police firing in 2018.
Ghosh alleged that it was Suvendu, who in 2020, had claimed that police did not open fire in the Daribhit incident. He said decisions should not be taken based on what Suvendu has alleged since he allegedly formulates his opinions according to which agency may launch a probe against him, said Ghosh. TMC has been repeatedly demanding the arrest of Adhikari in the Narada case where the party alleged that he is named in the FIR filed by the CBI but is not being arrested because he switched camps to BJP.
Further, Ghosh also took a jibe at the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Calcutta High Court comprising Upendra Nath Biswas, a retired Additional Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Pankaj Datta, a retired Inspector-General of Police from the State, and Damayanti Sen, a senior IPS officer of the State police.
Ghosh although agreed that every person in the SIT is capable, objected to making such persons part of the team who are prominent in news channel debates. He was alluding to Pankaj Datta, a prominent face in debates on one of the leading vernacular news channels. Ghosh asked if appearing on news channels is a criterion now to become part of SITs.
He clarified that although there can be no question on the judgment of the court, there will be questions on the choice of members appointed as part of the SIT. Ghosh is of the opinion that Datta has been a staunch critic of the state government. He opined there were other IPS officers who could have been made part of the SIT and the court should not have appointed one who is already biased against the state government.