Youth ‘shot dead by BSF’: Trinamool stages stir near Union Min’s house

siliguri: The house of Nishith Pramanik, Union minister of state for Home, Government of India in Bhetaguri was the centre point of politics in Cooch Behar with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) launching a day-long sit-in near his residence.

Answering the clarion call given by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, party supporters and leaders demanded justice for the Rajbangshi youth who had been labelled a cattle smuggler and gunned down by the BSF.

Section 144 CRPC was clamped by the district administration over a radius of 150 m from Pramanik’s house as a preventive measure. Security arrangement was tight around his house. Bamboo barricades were also put up, 200 m in front of his house to prevent anyone from breaching prohibitory orders. The West Bengal police led by Kumar Sunny Raj, ASP, Cooch Behar kept a strict vigil. Central forces were also seen guarding the house.

The TMC, protesting over the death of 24-year-old Prem Kumar Barman in Dinhata block, sought immediate action against those involved. The agitators raised slogans against the BJP-led Centre, the BSF and Pramanik.

North Bengal Development minister and Dinhata’s TMC MLA Udayan Guha, former state ministers Paresh Adhikari and Binoy Barman, were among those who led the protests. “The Central Government should take immediate action against all involved in gunning down the innocent youth. Those who support such killings are not human beings. They should be punished. Pramanik is a murderer and is supporting murderers,” retorted Guha.

Incidentally, Barman was gunned down, allegedly by a BSF constable, in the Dinhata block near the India-Bangladesh border in December 2022. His family members had claimed that the 24-year-old was a “migrant labourer who had returned home a few days before the tragedy”. The BSF contended that the deceased was a “cattle smuggler”.

The deceased Prem Kumar’s father and brother were also present at the sit-in. Guha stated that the BJP has to be thrown out of power in 2024 to avenge Barman’s killing.

Abhishek Banerjee, during a public meeting in Cooch Behar district a week back, had called for a demonstration by party workers to protest the death of Barman.

Meanwhile, one Tapan Barman of Sahebganj was arrested for sparking unrest by sharing a video clip on social media.