Around 7,000 Trinamul supporters gathered near the residence of Union minister of state Nisith Pramanik on the outskirts of Cooch Behar town on Sunday and demonstrated for eight hours, accusing him of being ignorant of the alleged atrocities of the BSF.

North Bengal development minister Udayan Guha, Trinamul district president Avijit De Bhowmik and a number of other leaders reached Pramanik’s home in Bhetaguri, a locality under Dinhata sub-division around 20km from Cooch Behar town.

Holding a demonstration 150 metres away from the house, they lashed out at Pramanik, who is also the Cooch Behar MP, for “apathy’ towards families of people who have died in BSF firing cases.

Pramanik was not at home.

“Nisith Pramanik, who is the junior minister in the home ministry, is totally silent on the atrocities unleashed by the BSF on the borders. The central security force here is killing innocent people in bordering villages and branding them as smugglers. This is completely unacceptable. If the BSF does not restrain itself and the minister here continues to keep quiet, we will intensify our movement in the coming days,” Guha told the gathering.

Last month, Alipurduar MP John Barla, also the Union minister of state for minority affairs, faced a similar protest in front of his house over the Centre’s alleged indifference to the tea population.

Sunday’s demonstration, which Trinamul general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had earlier spoken about, is believed to be a part of Trinamul’s strategy to revive its support base in Cooch Behar and other Rajbanshi-dominated belts of north Bengal where the BJP has done well in most elections in recent years.

Abhishek, at a public meeting in Mathabhanga last week, brought to the dais the parents and brother of Prem Kumar Barman, a Rajbanshi youth from a bordering village in the Dinhata sub-division of the district, who was alleged shot dead by the BSF on December 24 last year. His family members said he was simply walking on a field when the BSF killed him. The central security force claimed he was a cattle smuggler.

At the meeting, Abhishek he would not let the issue die and take all steps to ensure Prem’s family “gets justice.”

His party organised the demonstration in front of Pramanik’s house on Sunday where Trinamul leaders accused the BJP of being “insensitive” to the Rajbanshis and asked them to ensure that the BJP faces defeat in the rural polls. Shiben Barman, Prem’s father, was present at the event.

Massive police arrangements were made near Pramanik’s house. The administration enforced prohibitory orders on the surroundings of the house and raised a barricade.

However, as the Trinamul protest was held 150 metres away from the house, it was beyond the ambit of the prohibitory orders.

Around 800 police personnel were deputed in the area. Senior police officers also visited the location at regular intervals.

BJP leaders reacted sharply to the demonstration in front of Pramanik’s house.

“They can demonstrate at government offices and ministries concerned. But what they did today was wrong. Trinamul leaders should realise that we too can organise similar protests in front of the house of Abhishek Banerjee,” BJP Bengal unit chief Sukanta Majumdar said.