BJP Accuses Mamata Banerjee of State-Sponsored Violence in NIA Assault Incident

Using its national spokesman, the BJP claimed on Saturday that the early Saturday assault on NIA officers in Bhupatinagar, East Midnapore, was "state-sponsored."

In order to obstruct the investigation into the 2022 bombing case and shield those responsible for the event, the saffron party blamed Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of instigating the rioting.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) detained two major conspirators in the 2022 explosion case earlier in the day, after an assault on the agency's team by a mob in Bhupatinagar, in the East Midnapore district's Contai. This prompted the BJP to make these claims.

Shehzad Poonawalla, the national spokesman for the Bharatiya Janata Party, responded angrily to the event in Delhi, stating, "The attack on the NIA officials is Sandeshkhali 2.0 orchestrated by the state to put hurdles on the investigation into the bomb blast case."

It was a well planned experiment rather than just a happenstance. It was an assault on NIA personnel by the state. Poonawalla said that the governing TMC was behind the assault and urged the Election Commission to take notice.

Poonawalla said that the pattern of attacks on the NIA personnel was the same as what happened to the ED officials on January 5 when they were visiting Sandeshkhali in North 24-Parganas.

Bengal's law and order system has "crumbled," according to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who also threatened to sue the superintendent of police of East Midnapore, the officer in charge of the Bhupatinagar police station, and the police officer assigned to the Contai subdivision.

Adhikari posted the following on his X handle: "The reason the TMC leaders dared to attack the NIA India officers after the ED officials were attacked at Sandeshkhali is because of Mamata Banerjee's persistent incitement." She recently made disparaging remarks against the NIA at a political gathering in the Cooch Behar district's Mathabhanga. After getting a summons, the NIA team proceeded to arrest Balai Maity and other uncooperative individuals. Instead, these TMC officials were occupied with strategizing their assault against the personnel of the National Investigation Agency.

Mamata was also charged by the Congress, the CPM, the BJP, and other Trinamul competitors for encouraging violence and giving money to thugs.

In a place where criminals "rule," CPM state secretary and the party's candidate for the Murshidabad Lok Sabha, Md Salim, described the Bhupatinagar episode as "not unusual."

Bengal has seen utter anarchy for more than ten years. Salim informed reporters, "Our leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said twelve years ago that criminals rule the state because Mamata Banerjee is in charge of Bengal." Salim further said that the "spineless" police were carrying out the orders of Trinamul leader Abhishek Banerjee.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Bengal Congress chief spokesman Soumya Aich Roy repeated Salim's assertion that the state has turned into a "safe hunting ground" for thugs, supposedly with the support of the chief minister of Bengal and her party.

"Goons now think they control the state because of Mamata. Sheikh Sahajahan and other thugs who assaulted ED personnel were encouraged by her. Such sponsorship is the reason Bhupatinagar hosted a rerun of Sandeshkhali, according to Roy.

Governor of Bengal, C.V. Ananda Bose, condemned the assault on the NIA as well. "This is a grave matter that requires the utmost seriousness to be addressed. We shouldn't tolerate "goondaism" of this type. Legal authority shouldn't be replaced by physical force. At Raj Bhavan, Bose told PTI, "This (the situation) has to be dealt with an iron hand."