Hindu Samhati President Sri Tapan Ghosh arrested and later released
On 3rd November, Shri Tapan Kumar Ghosh, President of
Hindu Samhati, was arrested from a private household while attending a personal
meeting in Chanchal area of Malda district along with his two aides, Sri
Asitava Bhowmik & Sri Sujit Maity. He was visiting the area to address
organizational matters as planned sometime back.
Sri Ghosh was detained overnight in Chanchal police
station before being released the next morning. He was escorted by six vans of
state police personnel and his supporters were stopped midway from meeting him.
The entire process was shrouded in secrecy and the detainees were not even
provided with basic amenities like food or water for the entire day. It became
apparent that the destination was not Malda as the convoy changed route towards
Siliguri. While Mr Ghosh was initially informed that he will be handed over to
the Siliguri Commissionerate, the commissioner of police in Siliguri, Mr Jag
Mohan denied having received any such information when contacted.
Eventually, the Malda police personnel took Mr Ghosh
to a desolate place before handing him to the Circle Inspector of Naxalbari and
Officer in Charge of Bidhan Nagar police station in Darjeeling at around 5:30 PM. Superintendent
of Darjeeling police, Mr Akhilesh Kumar Chaturbedi had confirmed that Mr Ghosh
would eventually be handed over to the Siliguri Commissionerate even though
they were being detained at the NHPC guest house at New Jalpaiguri.
Unlawful detention of Sri Gosh & his team resulted
in tremendous protest across different spectrum of society. Social medias like
Facebook & Twitter were flooded with posts demanding immediate release of
Sri Tapan Ghosh. #FreeTapanDa hashtag secured the third position in Twitter trending.
Concerned police officials were flooded with calls from supporters of Sri Ghosh and Hindu Samhati made around the
world.
Finally, they were escorted by the Jalpaiguri police
to New Jalpaiguri railway station led by one Addl. Superintendant of Police. A
special coach was attached with the train (Padatik Exp.) destined to Kolkata. Sri
Ghosh and his team availed the train and they were joined by 10 (ten) security
personnels who escorted them upto Kolkata. In the early morning of 5th
November they reached Sealdah station where a large number of Hindu Samhati workers welcomed
them with garland & cheer.
Later, it was conveyed to us by some sources in the
police dept. that Police had specific info that there
were genuine threat to Sri Ghosh in Malda. Hence they had to take all
precautions and kept all info secret about their
whereabouts.
Comments